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GENEVA OPIUM 
CONFERENCES 


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Statements of the | 
CHINESE DELEGATION ~~ 


SAO-KE ALFRED SIE 


Baltimore 
The Johns Hopkins Press 
1926 


COPYRIGHT, 1926, By 
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 


The Judustrial Printing Company 
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 


CONTENTS 


RE EVORT I) geal es ee Pe er Cl dee Ms Ae 


First CONFERENCE 


i 


2 
3 
4, 
5 


Co ND 


10 


PNTRODUCTIONG 2 tune sea te te Wiles owt ary 
. PROPOSALS OF THE DELEGATION-_---_--__- 
MMSOVERNMENT CONTROL Ye ene oo eu 
ASSURANCES OF THE DELEGATION _- - ___ 


. UNSATISFACTORY CHARACTER OF THE 
BRITISH: PROPOSALS ihee eee 


CIPIUMIN WVLACAO. Oct epee ae Bk 


MPU CCTM RAR RIC. ©) Legit, ay) body 
WITHDRAWAL OF THE DELEGATION. ____ 
MEMORANDUM ON WITHDRAWAL..______- 


. ANNEXES 


(1) PETITION OF THE NATIONAL ANTI- 


OptuM ASSOCIATION OF CHINA_ 


(II) LETTER FROM T. Z. Koo To MR. 


PZ Foe oe ch RN Pt are, 


(III) MEmMorRIAL OF THE MEDICAL PRO- 


FESSION IN? GHINAGi oe eee 


lil 


ROT OL LC Vie ko cs ety eae el ELAS 


29 


78 


Part II 


SECOND CONFERENCE 


1 


2 
3 
4. 
5 
6 


~I 


10. 


CHINA’S POLICY OF PROHIBITION - --_--- 89 
. COMPETENCE OF THE CONFERENCE____ 95 
. ANTI-OPIUM MOVEMENT IN CHINA_-__-- 107 

BRITISH PROPOSAL (U2 ee 113 
) INDIANKHEMP. 2. seo e le eae 132 
. CHAPTER IV oF HAGUE CONVENTION: 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS-_-_-_--_--- 133 

. CHINA’S MINIMUM DEMAND_---_------ 146 

; PINAL APPRAL2 100 )2 20 ee ee 148 

. WITHDRAWAL OF THE DELEGATION__.- 152 

MEMORANDUM ON WITHDRAWAL.------ 154 
ANNEXES 


(1) LETTER FROMT.Z. KOO TO PREsI- 
DENT LADLE 2p ey eee 157 


(II) MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION . 162 


iv 


FOREWORD 


The publication of this collection of the more im- 
portant of the statements made by the Chinese 
Delegation in the two International Opium Confer- 
ences held at Geneva in the winter of 1924-1925 has 
been deemed desirable for two reasons. In the first 
place, it has been thought that the ends of conveni- 
ence would be served by thus presenting in a mea- 
surably brief but authentic manner the positions 
taken and the views expressed by the representa- 
tives of the Chinese Government in the Confer- 
ences. In the second place, it has been repeatedly 
urged that something should be done to show to 
the compiler’s countrymen how misleading were 
some of the newspaper reports sent out to China 
at the time the Conferences were in session. And, 
incidental to this second service, it has been hoped 
that the Chinese press will be further awakened to 
the desirability of organizing, by co-operative effort, 
a foreign news service of its own which will render 
it less dependent upon the private or pseudo-private 
news agencies of other countries. 


That the collection and publication of these state- 
ments should have been postponed until the present 
time is due, in considerable measure at least, to the 
fact that they deal with matters which have caused 
regrettable bitterness of international feeling, and, 


AY 


this being so, it was thought best that they should 
not be given additional publicity at a time when — 
there was already considerable public excitement 
arising out of the events which occurred at Shanghai 
during May of last year. 


The statements here published were all made by 
the Chief of the Chinese delegation, who, of course, 
acted as the spokesman for his colleagues after hav- 
ing obtained the benefit of their counsel. In so 
doing he acted according to the custom followed, 
with but few and occasional exceptions, by all the 
other delegations to the Conferences. 


The hearty support given by the Chinese delega- 
tion to the American proposal that a definite date 
for the termination of the traffic in opium for other 
than strictly scientific and medicinal purposes ap- 
pears in the statements included in the present 
volume, but the compiler cannot forbear from again 
stating in this place his conviction that the Ameri- 
can formula is the only one which can be depended 
upon to realize that end to which the Powers 
pledged themselves in 1912 when, in the Hague 
Opium Convention, they declared it to be their pur- 
pose to take measures for the progressive and effec- 
tive suppression of the traffic in prepared opium. 
It is the firm conviction of the compiler that 
sooner or later all the governments will accept and 
adopt the American proposals regarding the pro- 
gressive and effective suppression of the traffic in 
prepared opium and the reduction of the produc- 
tion of raw opium so that there will be no surplus 


vi 


available for other than scientific and medicinal 
purposes. When this stage will be reached will de- 
pend on the awakening of public opinion to the full 
realization of the seriousness of this great moral 
problem and to the consequent demand that the 
governments concerned shall sacrifice their imme- 
diate and sordid interests for the common good of 
humanity. Genuine international co-operation, 
controlled by pure humanitarian motives, is essen- 
tial. It is to be hoped that this co-operation will 
soon be secured. 


The Minutes and Proceedings of the two Opium 
Conferences have been published by the Secretariat 
of the League of Nations, and from these reports 
the material here published has been taken. It will 
be noted that the reports of statements made in the 
First Conference are in the third person. This was 
because those reports were not verbatim. The re- 
ports in Second Conference, upon the contrary, 
purport to be verbatim, and, consequently, the 
first person is employed. 


SAO-KE ALFRED SZE. 


Washington, D. C., April 20, 1926. 


vii 





PART I 


THE FIRST OPIUM CONFERENCE 


IMPORTANT STATEMENTS OF THE 
CHINESE DELEGATION 





THE FIRST CONFERENCE 
INTRODUCTION 


By Resolution 5, adopted on September 27, 
1923, the Assembly of the League approved 
the recommendation of the Advisory Commit- 
tee of the League on Traffic in Opium and 
Other Dangerous Drugs that the Govern- 
ments concerned should be invited ‘‘to enter 
into negotiations with a view to the conclusion 
of an agreement as to the measures for giving 
effective application in the Far Eastern terri- 
tories to Part II of the (Hague) Convention 
and as to a reduction of the amount of raw 
opium to be imported for the purpose of 
smoking in those territories where it is tem- 
porarily continued, and as to the measures 
which should be taken by the Government of 
the Republic of China to bring about the sup- 
pression of the illegal production and use of 
opium in China,’’ and that, for this purpose, 
the Governments concerned should be invited 
to send representatives with plenipotentiary 
powers to a Conference and to report the re- 
sult of their labors to the Council at the earl- 
iest possible date. 


4 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


This invitation to the Governments con- 
cerned was duly issued and accepted, the Con- 
ference assembled, and, on February 11, 1925, 
an Agreement was signed by representatives 
of the Powers other than those of the Chinese 
Republic. 


The considerations moving the Chinese 
delegation to decline to sign the Agreement 
drawn up by the Conference are set forth in 
the memorandum submitted by the delegation 
at the time of its withdrawal from the Con- 
ference. This memorandum is included in the 
present volume. 


As declared in the invitation to the partici- 
pating Powers, the purpose of the Conference 
was to be the conclusion of an agreement for 
giving effective application in the Far Hast- 
ern territories to Part II of the Hague Con- 
vention, namely, to the undertaking to bring 
about the gradual and effective suppression 
of the legalized smoking of opium in those 
territories in which smoking of opium was to 
be temporarily continued, and as to the meas- 
ures to be taken by the Government of the 
Republic of China to bring about the suppres- 


INTRODUCTION 5 


sion of the illegal production and use of 
opium within its own borders. 


As to measures thus to be taken by China, 
the Chinese delegation took early occasion to 
point out to the Conference that its Govern- 
ment still adhered rigidly to the policy of 
absolute prohibition of the production and 
use of opium in China and the limitation 
of its importation into China to amounts 
needed for strictly medicinal and scien- 
tific purposes, and that from this strin- 
gent policy its Government would not de- 
part. The Chinese delegation frankly rec- 
ognized that owing to disturbed political con- 
ditions in China there had been, to a certain 
extent, during recent years a most regrettable 
illegal recrudescence in China of the produc- 
tion and use of opium, but gave formal assur- 
ance that, at all times, and in all feasible 
ways, the Government of China would, to the 
extent of its administrative and executive 
power, seek to secure effective enforcement 
of its policy as thus declared. In this effort, 
the co-operation of the other Powers was 
asked for in so far as they could give it by 
effectively suppressing within their own sey- 


6 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


eral territories the use of prepared opium and 
the exportation of raw or prepared opium. 
As to this assurance and request the following 
may be quoted from the statement made by 
Mr. Sao-Ke Alfred Sze, on November 7, in 
answer to the question put to him by Sir Mal- 
colm Delevingne of the British delegation as 
to the grounds upon which the Powers would 
be justified in accepting the assurance of the 
Chinese delegation that; as soon as a stable 
Government was secured in China, it would 
be disposed and able to adopt effective meas- 
ures for the suppression of the illegal produc- 
tion and use of opium within China. Mr. Sze 
said: 


The same question was asked at the Conference 
held at Shanghai in 1909 and again at the Hague 
Conference in 1912. The record of the Chinese 
Government made from 1907 to 1917 is the best 
evidence that such apprehension (of the Govern- 
ment’s inability or indisposition to act) need not . 
be held. Furthermore, look at the Province of 
Shansi with a population of over eleven millions 
and an area of over eighty-one thousand square 
miles. What has been accomplished in such an 
important province under such unfavorable con- 
ditions can certainly be duplicated in the other 
provinces when the general conditions in China 


INTRODUCTION 7 


become better. Furthermore, when the Govern- 
ment finds itself in a better position to enforce its 
will, it will be supported by a public opinion much 
stronger and more enlightened than it was during 
the period of 1907 to 1917. As I stated on Wednes- 
day, popular education is making rapid strides in 
its progress, and so are the sciences of medicine, 
hygiene, etc. Evidence of the widespread and 
growing public opinion opposed to the cultivation 
of the poppy is abundant, and some of it, as I 
understand, is in possession of the Secretariat. 

As to the growth of this public opinion, evi- 
dence appears in the remarkable statement of 
Mr. T. Z. Koo made to the Second Opium Con- 
ference, and which is included in the present 
volume. 

At the eleventh meeting of the Conference 
(November 13) the Japanese delegation 
moved a resolution that the Conference, trust- 
ing in the declarations of the Chinese dele- 
gate, should declare itself ready to collaborate 
in a friendly manner with China with a view 
to the suppression of the opium evil. This 
resolution was not put to a vote ‘‘in view of 
the fact,’’ as stated by the President of the 
Conference, ‘‘that the good faith of any Gov- 
ernment or any representative could never be 
questioned and therefore should not be ex- 


8 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


plicitly affirmed.’’ In effect, this was an ac- 
ceptance by the Conference of the assurance 
by the Chinese delegation that its Govern- 
ment would, to the extent of its power, take 
and enforce those measures called for in the 
Resolution of the Assembly of the League and 
the invitation of the Council of the League to 
the Powers to send representatives to the 
Conference. 


It is believed, then, that all will agree that, 
at the Conference, China did all that, under 
the existing circumstances, could be expected 
of it. It could do no more, no Government 
could possibly do more, than declare that it 
would pursue a policy of absolute prohibition 
with regard to the production, importation 
and use of opium for other than strictly me- 
dicinal and scientific purposes, and that it 
would employ all its administrative and ex- 
ecutive power for the effective enforcement 
of that policy. 


As to the action to be taken by the other 
Powers with reference to the effective sup- 
pression of the use of prepared opium, the 
Chinese Government is deeply concerned by 
reason of the fact that it is chiefly and in some 


INTRODUCTION 9 


eases exclusively to its own citizens living 
within the territories and possessions of these 
Powers that prepared opium is sold and per- 
mitted to be consumed, and also because the 
suppression of this use will greatly assist 
China in her efforts to prevent the illegal pro- 
duction and use of opium within her own 
borders. 


It was with profound regret that the Chi- 
nese delegation found that the other Powers 
represented in the Conference were unwilling 
to adopt the measures which, as stated in the 
invitation to the Powers, it was the expecta- 
tion of the Council of the League of Nations 
they would adopt. 


To the specific matter of the reduction of 
the amount of raw opium to be imported for 
the purpose of smoking mentioned in the in- 
vitation of the Council no serious attention 
was given by the Powers. As to the effective 
application of Part II of the Hague Conven- 
tion, the other Powers, though urged to do so 
by the Chinese and Japanese delegations, not 
only refused to set a specific date at which the 
legalized manufacture, sale, and consumption 
of prepared opium would be brought to an 


10 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


end within their several jurisdictions, but 
also declined to provide for the adoption of 
systems of control or regulation which would, 
by their operation, necessarily lead to the 
progressive diminution and final cessation of 
the temporarily legalized opium smoking 
within their several borders. As a result, the 
only Power which at present has in operation 
a system of control and regulation which will 
automatically lead to that result is Japan 
with reference to her Formosan possession. 


The Chinese delegation urged in the Con- 
ference that the Powers should agree that the 
revenues, direct and indirect, derived by them 
from the importation of raw opium for the 
purpose of smoking, and from the manufac- 
ture and sale of prepared opium would be 
used for the moral and physical betterment of 
the persons or classes of persons who were 
allowed to purchase and consume the opium. 
The objection made to this proposal was that, 
for technical budgetory reasons, it was not 
feasible thus to earmark or segregate partic- 
ular items of income for specific expenditure 
purposes. It scarcely needs to be pointed 
out, however, that this objection, in so far as 


INTRODUCTION 11 


it is a real one, can be easily overcome by con- 
veying into the public treasuries all such reve- 
nues, and then providing in the annual bud- 
gets appropriations for the purposes indi- 
cated, and fixing the amounts of these appro- 
priations by the amounts that it is estimated 
will be received from the importation of raw 
opium and the manufacture and sale of pre- 
pared opium, etc. 


The Chinese delegation further urged in the 
Conference that, in order that there might be 
no inducement upon the part of retail sellers 
to push the sale of prepared opium, they 
should, in all cases, be paid fixed salaries by 
the Governments concerned and not by com- 
missions upon sales. This obligation the other 
Powers in the Conference were not willing to 
assume. 


Still further, the Chinese delegation vainly 
urged in the Conference that a system of 
licensing (or registration) and rationing of 
those addicted to the use of prepared opium 
similar to that of Japan in Formosa, should 
be adopted by the other Powers which, in its 
operation, would necessarily lead to a pro- 
gressive reduction and ultimate suppression 


12 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


within a comparatively short time of the 
legalized sale and use of prepared opium. 


The failure of the other Powers to adopt 
the foregoing measures and policies, coupled 
with the sanction given by them to the provi- 
sions contained in the Agreement that has 
been signed, justifies the conclusion that the 
Powers which signed it, with the exception of 
Japan in Formosa, have no present intention 
of introducing systems for the legalized con- 
trol of the use of prepared opium which will 
necessarily operate to bring about that grad- 
ual and effective suppression of this use which 
they have promised in Article VI of the 
Hague Convention and which, in the Pre- 
amble of the Agreement just signed, they de- 
clare is still their intention. That there is 
ground for this belief upon the part of the 
Chinese delegation is shown by the impres- 
sion which this Agreement has made upon the 
Right Reverend Bishop Brent, and which he 
has declared in his published statement ad- 
dressed to the members of the Second Opium 
Conference and entitled ‘‘An Appeal to My 
Colleagues.”’ 


INTRODUCTION | 13 


With such a conviction as this, the Chinese 
delegation could take no other action than to 
withhold its signature to the Agreement. 


Throughout the Conference a persistent at- 
tempt was made by the other Powers to ex- 
cuse themselves from taking effective action 
for bringing about the early and complete 
suppression of the legalized use of prepared 
opium upon the ground that this was rendered 
impracticable by reason of the extent to which 
illicit traffic in raw opium prevails in the Far 
Kast. This justification the Powers saw fit to 
state in a Protocol annexed to the Agreement 
signed by them. 


This Protocol is based upon certain resolu- 
tions which were adopted by the Conference 
at the seventeenth meeting. At that time, the 
Chinese delegation refused to approve this 
Resolution and registered its disapproval in 
a formal statement to that effect. Notwith- 
standing this fact, the Drafting Committee 
made no mention whatever of China’s dis- 
sentient attitude in the Protocol that was 
drafted. By so doing the Drafting Committee 
clearly failed faithfully to execute the task 
assigned to it. When its report came up for 


14 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


acceptance by the Conference, the Chinese 
delegation pointed out this failure and asked 
that the formal statement of disapproval 
which the delegation had made should be in- 
eluded as a part of the Protocol. This request 
was refused by the Conference, and the Chi- 
nese delegation was denied even the right of a 
roll-eall of the delegations upon the matter. 
The statement which the Chinese delegation 
desired to have included in the Protocol ap- 
pears in the present volume. 


As to this matter of illicit traffic in opium 
in the Far Kast, it is to be said that the Chi- 
nese delegation admitted its existence, as it 
also did the fact that its existence renders 
more difficult the effective suppression of the 
use of prepared opium. But the Chinese dele- 
gation asserted that this fact furnished no 
sufficient justification to the Powers, within 
whose territories or possessions the use of 
prepared opium is still legalized, to refuse to 
establish within their several jurisdictions 
systems of control whose normal operation 
will be to bring to an early and certain end 
this legalized use. The Chinese delegation 
pointed out that, with such systems of control 


INTRODUCTION 15 


in existence and operation, the Powers would 
be in a position to take instant advantage of 
any diminution in extent of this illicit traffic 
and thus accelerate the movement towards the 
complete suppression of the use of prepared 
opium. It was also the opinion of the Chinese 
delegation that it had not been demonstrated 
that, in fact, the Powers, with the exception 
of Japan, had taken as energetic action as 
they might have done to suppress this illicit 
trafic in opium. This appeared to be the 
opinion also of the Japanese delegation which 
pointed out the almost complete success that 
had resulted from the measures taken by its 
Government to prevent smuggling of opium 
into Formosa and Korea and the home islands 
of Japan. 


One further feature of the work of the 
First Conference needs to be noted. At the 
second meeting, after considerable discussion, 
it was decided, largely as a result of the in- 
sistence of the Chinese delegation, that the 
plenary meetings of the Conference should be 
public. The Chinese delegation gave its ap- 
proval to the proposition that the meetings of 
committees and sub-committees might be in 


16 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


private only after it had been agreed that 
each delegation should have the right to make 
public a statement of its own position with 
reference to matters discussed at such meet- 
ings. So far as the Chinese delegation was 
concerned, however, this provision was made 
nugatory by the action of the Conference at 
its seventh meeting. There was then ap- 
pointed a committee composed of the repre- 
sentatives of France, Great Britain, the Neth- 
erlands and Japan, to consider the rates of 
consumption of prepared opium in the vari- 
ous territories and possessions in the Far 
Kast, the reasons for variations in such con- 
sumption, the examination and comparison of 
different systems of control in existence, and 
the problem of smuggling. The Chinese dele- 
gation asked that it might be represented 
upon this Committee, but this request was re- 
fused. In result, this Committee, which held 
its meetings in private and issued no minutes 
or communiques, henceforth did much of the 
work of the Conference, holding as it did more 
meetings than did the Conference itself sit- 
ting in pleno and in public. In fact the Agree- 
ment and the Protocol that were finally signed 


INTRODUCTION Li 


were based directly upon the draft proposi- 
tions presented by this Committee, from 
whose deliberations the Chinese delegation as 
well as the public were wholly excluded. 


At the time that the Chinese delegation con- 
sented to the establishment of committees 
which might sit in private, assurance was 
given that such committee would deal only 
with special and highly technical questions.’ 
How little force was given by the Conference 
to this assurance is shown by the scope of the 
report of the Committee. 


1 ‘*The President [of the Conference] pointed out to M. Sze 
that the questions to be discussed by the Committee would 
bear on the actual rate of consumption and the great diver- 
gence between those rates of consumption in the different 
countries; the examination of the system of control; the laws 
and administrations of the various countries; the considerable 
difference of opinion regarding systems of registration; smug- 
gling and the sources from which it came.’—Minuies of the 
Seventh Meeting, November 6, 1924. 


Mal Wn 7 Re LY 
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PROPOSALS OF CHINESE DELHGA- 
TION TO THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


At the sixth meeting of the First Confer- 
ence, Mr. Sze, on behalf of the Chinese dele- 
gation, made the following formal statement 
of the opium policy of the Chinese Govern- 
ment, and of the desires of that Government 


as to the action to be taken by the Conference. 
Mr. Sze said: 


Before I read to you the statement that I have 
prepared I wish just to preface it with a word or 
two. My desire is to avoid any misunderstanding. 
I want to call your attention to the fact that I am 
not speaking in my mother tongue but in a foreign 
language and J have considerable difficulty in pre- 
paring statements of this kind. I wish, however, 
to ask for your co-operation, in case you should find 
not quite clear any expression, any sentence or any 
clause in the statement that I shall have the honor 
to read to you presently, and I should consider it 
a favor if you would call my attention to it and 
ask me to explain it. 


China comes to the Conference with the earnest 
desire to co-operate to the extent of her sovereign 
powers with the other nations in the attempt to 
solve the serious problems connected with the mis- 
use of opium, of the derivatives from opium, and 
of other narcotic drugs. Even more than other 


19 


20 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


nations, China has suffered, and still is suffering, 
from the acts of individuals over whom she has not 
had, and does not have, effective control by reason 
of the obligation that has been imposed upon her 
to concede extra-territorial rights to the nationals 
of certain of the Powers with which she has treaty 
relations. 


Opium is not indigenous to China but was intro- 
duced into the country from abroad. 


When the practice of smoking opium became 
widespread, and was seen to be an evil, the Chinese 
Government sought for many years to prevent the 
entrance of the drug into the country. Its impor- 
tation was prohibited by law. Smuggling, however, 
continued. China’s attempt to curtail this smug- 
gling did not meet with the co-operation of those 
Powers the nationals of which were engaged in the 
traffic, and, in fact, the controversies that arose out 
of this effort of the Chinese Government to pro- 
tect its own people against a practice that was de- 
bauching them was the immediate, if not the sole, 
cause of the first war in which China became un- 
fortunately engaged with European Powers. As a 
result of this war, China was compelled to grant 
extra-territorial rights to the nationals of the Treaty 
Powers living within her borders and to submit to 
the dictation of foreign Powers as to what goods 
might or might not be imported into China and 
the customs dues that might be levied thereupon, 


CHINESE PROPOSALS 21 


with the result that, within a few years, the im- 
portation of opium without limit as to amount was 
legalized. 

Following upon this, the Chinese people, seeing 
that the product of the foreign-grown poppy was 
not to be excluded, began, to an increasing extent, 
to cultivate the plant. 

The smoking of opium continued, however, to be 
recognized as an evil, and, finally, in 1907, China 
obtained from the British Government, from whose 
Indian possessions came most of the opium that 
was imported, an agreement that each year, for a 
period of ten years, it would reduce the total amount 
of opium exported from India by an amount equal 
to one-tenth of the amount then being exported to 
China, upon condition that the Chinese Govern- 
ment, upon its part, would, parz passu, bring to an 
end the cultivation of the poppy in China. 

Certain of the foreigners who were concerned in 
the negotiation of this agreement have since frankly 
confessed that they had little expectation that 
China would be able to carry out her part of the 
agreement, but, to their surprise, and to that of 
the entire world, the Chinese Government, aided 
by the public opinion of the most enlightened of 
her people, was able to do this, with the result that, 
in 1917, the production of opium in China had 
come practically to an end, and Great Britain 
agreed that henceforth no Indian opium was to be 
exported to China. This has meant that, since 
that time, no opium, except in minute quantities 


22 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


for medicinal or scientific use, has been legally 
introduced into China, for, with the other opium- 
producing countries, especially Turkey and Persia, 
China has no treaties that limit her right to con- 
trol imports. 

At the present time, no Power is more concerned 
than is China that, from the proceedings of this 
Conference, agreements should result which will 
hasten the movement for the total suppression of 
the use of prepared opium. She is concerned as to 
the welfare of the Chinese people living outside 
China as well as of those living within her own 
borders. 


It is clear that this result cannot be hoped for 
without the whole-hearted co-operation of all the 
Powers which have territorial interests in the Far 
East. China frankly admits, and greatly regrets, 
that, due to temporary disturbed political condi- 
tions within her own borders, there has been, to a 
certain extent, a recrudescence of the cultivation 
of the poppy and of the production and use of pre- 
pared opium. This fact, no doubt, complicates and 
renders somewhat more difficult the solution of the 
problem with which the Conference is concerned, 
but it is to be borne in mind that this is but one 
element in the present situation, and that, serious 
as it is to the Chinese people living in China, it is of 
general or international significance only in so far 
as Chinese-produced opium finds its way outside 
the borders of China, and there is no certain evi- 
dence that this occurs to‘a very great extent. It 


CHINESE PROPOSALS 23 


will, therefore, be unwise, as well as unjust to 
China, should the fact of the recrudescence of the 
production and use of prepared opium in China be 
made an excuse for non-action on the part of the 
Powers, or in any way allowed to discourage them 
from making every possible effort to bring to an 
end, within their several jurisdictions, the smoking 
of opium or the export of opium which will be used 
for that purpose. Equally it is to be hoped that 
the Powers will not feel justified in remitting their 
efforts to prevent practices upon the part of their 
nationals which render more difficult the task con- 
fronting China in her endeavor to surpress, within 
China, the production and use of prepared opium. 


The Chinese delegation does not believe that any 
good will result from unconstructive criticism of 
each other upon the part of the Powers represented 
at this Conference, and, therefore, it is not disposed 
to mention in a fault-finding way certain of the 
evils, serious though they are, from which the 
Chinese people, in and outside China, are suffering 
by reason of the foreign-grown opium that is smug- 
gled into China, and also by reason of the great 
amount of foreign manufactured narcotic drugs 
which are illegally introduced into and sold in 
China. This debauching traffic is for the most part 
carried on by nationals of foreign Powers. 


This situation of affairs, with reference to the 
smuggling of narcotic drugs, is mentioned in this 
first Conference only because its effect is greatly to 
increase the difficulty of the task of the Chinese 


24 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


Government in its efforts to enforce its laws which 
prohibit absolutely the production or the smoking 
of prepared opium. Reports have come from pro- 
vincial authorities that, almost in proportion as 
they succeed in stamping out the smoking of opium, 
there is recourse, especially by the poorer classes, 
to these smuggled-in narcotic drugs. Thus, in a 
recent letter to the International Anti-Opium Asso- 
ciation at Peking, His Excellency Wang Cheng-Pin, 
Civil Governor of the Metropolitan province of 
Chihli, says: ‘‘There are signs, I believe, if I am 
not too optimistic, that the opium evil may be 
stamped out in my province before long. But it is 
regretted that the greater the success of the opium 
suppression in Chihli, the more prevailing is the 
narcotic problem. This traffic in morphia, Chintan 
or white pills is more pernicious than opium to our 
Chihli people. China does not manufacture nar- 
cotics. The morphia, cocaine, heroin all come from 
abroad.”’ If this be a true statement, and there is 
no reason for believing that it is not, it is evident 
that the enforcement of the laws in China against 
the production and use of prepared opium will be 
carried on under very discouraging conditions so 
long as effective steps are not taken greatly to 
lessen, if not wholly to put an end to, illicit trade 
in narcotic drugs. 


Just as China hopes and expects that the other 
Powers will take such action as will render more 
easy the solution of her own problem with reference 
to opium and narcotic drugs, or at least that they 


CHINESE PROPOSALS 25 


will place no hindrances in her way, so, reciprocally, 
she stands ready to do all that lies within her power 
to facilitate the efforts of other Governments to 
suppress the smoking of opium and the illicit use 
of narcotic drugs within their several jurisdictions. 

Upon her part, China gives assurance that, when 
the present disturbed political conditions in her ter- 
ritory comes to an end, and a government with more 
effective administrative powers is established, the 
production and use of prepared opium will, in fact, 
be prevented. This will be one of the first reforms 
to which such a government will address itself. 
That she will then be able to repeat her remarkable 
achievement of the period from 1907 to 1917, there 
can be no reasonable doubt. 

Enlightened public opinion in China is now more 
widespread than it then was, and is equally united 
in the belief that the smoking of opium is morally 
and physically debasing to those who indulge in it. 
Since 1907, the extension of education along modern 
lines has been very rapid. The doctrines, too, of 
scientific hygiene and medicine have become more 
generally known, and thus, when the Chinese Gov- 
ernment finds itself happily enabled again to secure 
a more rigid enforcement of its laws and decrees 
throughout the provinces, it will have its efforts 
supported by an enlightened public opinion even 
more strongly than it was during the years from 
1907 to 1917. 

The International Anti-Opium Association, in 
one of its most recent publications, Letters from 


26 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


Statesmen and Leaders on the Present Opium Con- 
ditions in China, has this to say of China’s achieve- 
ment of those years: 


‘‘When we consider the difficulties that lay in the 
way of this reform, such as the enormous numbers 
who had acquired the opium habit, the moral weak- 
ness brought on by the habitual use of the drug, 
the physical sufferings and dangers inseparable 
from a cure, the large amount of capital invested 
in the trade, the great profits easily made, the many 
engaged in the trade, both Chinese and foreign 
capitalists, agriculturalists, merchants and the like 
and also the important revenues in China and 
India, it does seem as if the impossible had been 
accomplished, and throughout the whole civilized 
world the Chinese Government and people were 
credited with having wrought a moral reformation 
almost without parallel in the history of the world.” 

China then had the especial sympathy and aid 
of Great Britain, India and the United States. She 
now hopes for the same sympathy and co-operation, 
not only from those States but also from the other 
Powers. 

As evidence of this aid and co-operation, China 
asks not only that, as has already been indicated, 
the other Powers should do all that is in their 
power to prevent the entrance of narcotic drugs 
into illicit trade, but that they should take every 
possible step to bring to a speedy end the use of 
prepared opium in their several Far Eastern terri- 
tories. 


CHINESE PROPOSALS 27 


To this end, China asks of the Powers: 


1. That the smoking of prepared opium be de- 
clared in unqualified terms to be a harmful and 
therefore illegitimate use of opium. 


2. That the importation of opium into their sev- 
eral territories for other than strictly medicinal and 
scientific uses be at once forbidden, or, where this 
is not immediately practicable, that such importa- 
tion be progressively curtailed each year and be 
wholly forbidden within a definite and brief period 
which shall be agreed upon. 


3. That the exportation of opium for other than 
strictly medical or scientific purposes be at once 
forbidden or, where this is not immediately prac- 
ticable, that such exportation be progressively cur- 
tailed each year and be wholly forbidden within a 
definite and brief period which shall be agreed upon. 


4. That these undertakings with regard to the 
importation and exportation of opium be applied 
to the colonies and other dependencies of the agree- 
ing Powers. 


5. That the use of prepared opium by those of the 
Chinese race as well as by other persons subject to 
their respective territorial jurisdictions be forbid- 
den, but that there be excepted from this prohibi- 
tion persons who, because of age, or long habitua- 
tion to the use of the drug, may, upon proper 
medical grounds, require special treatment. 


Perhaps I may say in parentheses in this connec- 
tion that some of the propositions which I have 


28 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


submitted really belong to the province of the 
morning meetings, but I find the work of the two 
meetings is so interwoven that I have taken the 
liberty of submitting the propositions to you as a 
whole now, with the request that, at the proper 
place and at the proper time, you will give con- 
sideration to them in conjunction with the sugges- 
tions which will be laid before you by the other 
delegations. 


In conclusion, it is to be said that, as was 
emphasized at the second meeting of this Confer- 
ence, the Chinese Government attaches great value 
to the force of enlightened public opinion in render- 
ing effective whatever attempts may be made to 
correct or lessen the evils from which the peoples 
of the world are suffering by reason of the improper 
use of opium, of its derivatives, and of other nar- 
cotic drugs. For this reason principally, the dele- 
gation for which I speak has earnestly desired that 
the proceedings of this Conference should be public 
in the fullest sense of the word. 


GOVERNMENT CONTROL 29 


GOVERNMENT CONTROL 


At the twelfth meeting of the First Confer- 
ence, commenting upon general statements 
which certain of the other delegations had 
made regarding the need of governmental 


control of the production and traffic in opium, 
Mr. Sze said: 


He was in the very fortunate position of being 
able to say something in regard to a question be- 
hind which there were no private interests. He 
had followed with the greatest interest the different 
statements made by various delegations at the pre- 
ceeding meeting and he was ready to believe that 
all the members of the Conference were actuated 
by motives to do something for the ‘‘cause,’’ that 
was to say, for the early suppression of the opium 
evil. This was fully in accordance with the wishes 
of the Advisory Committee and with the resolution 
adopted by the Council and the Assembly, as a 
result of which the Conference had been summoned. 


He thought that Sir Malcolm Delevingne had 
seen the problem in its true light. Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne had said that the most important point 
was to restrict the sales of opium and he agreed. 
No matter whether a complete or a semi-complete 
Government monopoly were established, the im- 
portant point was to restrict the sales. It was 
essential that the amount of opium consumed every 
year should grow less and less and that the num- 


50 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


ber of addicts should diminish. This could be 
achieved both by preventing those who were not 
addicts from becoming addicts and as to the addicts 
themselves, by reducing the amount of opium they 
used or by curing their habit by medical means. 


With regard to the statements made by the 
French delegation, Mr. Sze desired the Conference 
to understand that he wished to ask a question so 
as to obtain information and that he did not 
desire to make any criticism. If he had properly 
understood the French delegate, he had said that 
it would be impossible to erect a building in every 
district for the purpose of supplying opium. That 
difficulty could easily, in the view of Mr. Sze, be 
overcome. Every country, for example, had a 
postal system, and even in countries not vastly 
populated post-offices existed. At any rate, this 
was the case in China. Even in large cities where 
one post-office was not sufficient there were a num- 
ber of branch offices, but the Government did not 
in every case find itself under the necessity of 
building a house for such post-offices, especially in 
rural districts, so likewise, in the case of the retail 
sale of opium, it would not be necessary, in many 
cases, for the Government to provide special 
buildings. | 


He thought that the discussion had now reached 
a point where it would be possible to come to an 
agreement. He therefore begged leave to propose 
a formula which he thought would meet the views 


GOVERNMENT CONTROL ol 


of the French, British and other delegations. The 
formula was as follows: 


‘The importation of raw opium and the manu- 
facture and sale of prepared opium shall be under 
effective governmental control. To the extent that 
is practically possible, this control shall be directly 
exercised by governmental officials rather than by 
police or administrative supervision over private 
persons or establishments, and that in any event 
the persons employed or licensed by the govern- 
ment shall receive fixed salaries and not commis- 
sions upon sales. In no case shall the farming 
system be sanctioned.”’ 


He felt, however, that no one would suppose that 
in proposing this formula he had been actuated by 
any private motives. He had been actuated en- 
tirely by humanitarian motives. He was not an 
authority on monopolies. China was not interested 
in them and therefore his formula might not be 
complete. If any delegation wished to add any- 
thing to it, it was entirely at liberty todo so. He 
had only intervened in this stage of the discussion 
because he had thought that sufficient progress had 
been made, and as an “outsider,” representing a 
country which was not interested, he thought he 
might be able to make a suggestion which would 
be acceptable to all. 


32 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


ASSURANCES OF THE CHINESE 
DELEGATION 


At the eleventh meeting of the First Con- 
ference, Mr. Sze made the following formal 
statement as to what was, and would continue 
to be, the opium policy of the Chinese Govern- 
ment: 


In the resolution of the Assembly of the League 
of Nations providing for the convening of this Con- 
ference, it is declared that one of the subjects to 
be discussed is ‘‘as to the measures which should 
be taken by the Government of the Republic of 
China to bring about the suppression of the illegal 
production and use of opium in China.” It is here 
recognized that, at the present time, the produc- 
tion and use of opium are forbidden by the laws of 
China. From the policy represented by these laws, 
and which has now been the policy of China for 
nearly twenty years, the Chinese Government will 
not depart. Furthermore, that Government is pre- 
pared to give, and does give, to the Powers repre- 
sented at this Conference, the absolute assurance 
that, to the extent of its administrative and execu- 
tive power, it will continue this policy by applying 
rigidly the laws now in force, and by adopting still 
other measures, should developing conditions make 
their need manifest, in order that the complete 
suppression and use of prepared opium may be 
secured. 


ASSURANCES 33 


Having given this assurance, China hopes that 
the other Powers will co-operate with her by taking 
such action in their several territories as will make 
easier for China the successful carrying out of her 
policy as above declared. 


At the same meeting Mr. Sze, replying to 
Mr. Campbell, said that: 


Mr. Campbell had made two accusations against 
China and had, to a certain degree, called in ques- 
tion the good faith of the Chinese Government. In 
the first place, he had accused China of having 
violated Article 1 of the Hague Convention. That 
article was as folows: 


“The Contracting Powers shall enact effective 
laws or regulations for the control of the produc- 
tion and distribution of raw opium, unless laws or 
regulations on the subject are already in existence.”’ 


No one would maintain that the Chinese Govern- 
ment had failed to enact such laws. The truth was 
that China had enacted them long before the Hague 
Conference had met. 


Mr. Campbell had also accused China of failure 
in regard to the Anglo-Chinese Agreement of 1907. 
If Mr. Campbell’s attitude was the official attitude 
of the Indian Government towards China on the 
opium question, was it possible to think that India 
would release China from the obligations of the 
Treaty of 1907? Had not China invited British 
officials to examine the different provinces and 


34 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


then, when those British officials had stated that 
those provinces were free from opium, Great Brit- 
ain had declared that China had fulfilled the terms 
of the Treaty and that it would no longer export 
Indian opium to China. China appreciated the 
help given her by the United States, Great Britain 
and India at that moment, and hoped that the 
sympathy and friendship of those Powers and the 
Powers represented here would continue to be ex- 
tended to her. 


Although he had found it necessary to reply to 
Mr. Campbell’s criticisms, it should not be sup- 
posed that China would take part at an interna- 
tional conference in any discussion regarding a 
treaty made with any Power. The Treaty to which 
Mr. Campbell and himself had referred was one 
concerning only China and Great Britain. So far 
as China was concerned, he hoped that his reply 
would not be taken to mean that China would 
submit to the discussion at any international con- 
ference of any treaty which she had made or might 
make. 


At the ninth meeting of the First Confer- 
ence, Mr. Sze made the following statement 
as to the reasons why China’s assurances 
should be given full consideration: 


He was, as he always had been, anxious and 
eager to see the work of this Conference reach an 
early and successful conclusion, with results which 


ASSURANCES 35 


were compatible with the high aims of the League, 
under whose auspices this Conference was being 
held—with results acceptable to all, fulfilling the 
aim of all, results which would lead to the effective 
suppression of the use of opium at an early and 
definite date, in order to put an end to the harmful 
effects from which humanity was at present suffer- 
ing. This being the object which Mr. Sze had in 
view, he did not propose to take up a great deal 
of time at the present meeting. Upon receipt last 
night of the Minutes of yesterday’s meeting, he had 
lost no time in studying them in order that he 
might make an early reply to those questions that 
required immediate attention. He would dwell 
today, therefore, upon some aspects of the state- 
ment made by the British delegate on the previous 
day. 


If his statement of last Wednesday was criticized 
upon the ground that it contained no constructive 
suggestions, he was constrained to say that he 
found still less in the way of constructive suggest- 
tions in the statement to which he was referring. 


With reference to the statement of the British 
delegate, he would deal with two or three of its 
aspects which required immediate attention and 
would leave the other points to be taken up on 
future appropriate occasions. 


Sir Malcolm Delevingne had asked him the fol- 
lowing question: ‘‘What grounds has the Confer- 
ence for accepting the assurance given by the Chi- 


56 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


nese delegate that as soon as a stable Government 
was established in China the suppression of the 
cultivation of opium and its use would be one of 
the first tasks of that Government?” 


The same question had been asked at the Con- 
ference held at Shanghai in 1909 and again at the 
Hague Conference in 1912. The record of the 
Chinese Government from 1907 to 1917 was the 
best evidence that such apprehensions need not be 
entertained. Furthermore, one should look at the 
province of Shansi, with a population of over 11,- 
000,000 and an area of over 81,000 square miles. 
What had been accomplished in such an important 
province under such unfavorable conditions could 
certainly be repeated in other provinces when the 
general conditions in China became better. 

Moreover, when the Chinese Government found 
itself in a better position to enforce its will, it would 
be supported by a public opinion which was much 
stronger and more enlightened than that of the 
period from 1907 to 1917. As Mr. Sze had stated 
on Wednesday, the progress of popular education 
was rapid, as also was that of the sciences of medi- 
cine, hygiene, etc. Evidence of the widespread and 
growing opposition of public opinion to the culti- 
vation of the poppy was abundant; some of that 
evidence was, he understood, in the possession of 
the Secretariat. 

Sir Malcolm Delevingne had enquired as to the 
relationship between the question of extra-terri- 
toriality and the problem now before the Confer- 


ASSURANCES oT 


ence. The statement made by the Siamese delegate 
had amply shown that there was a connection, and 
Mr. Sze would say that in China, as was perhaps 
fairly well known, the enforcement of the laws 
against smuggling in the consular courts was not 
uniform, and in some of them the penalties imposed 
were by no means commensurate with the gravity 
of the offences committed; and in some cases there 
was even an absence of the necessary laws. To be 
fair, as Mr. Sze had always tried to be, he made 
no criticism against the British and American con- 
sular courts. 


Sir Malcolm Delevingne had expressed the hope 
that Mr. Sze would suggest some way of solving 
the problem of the recrudescence of the cultivation 
of the poppy in China. The laws now in force in 
China were comprehensive and stringent; they had 
been tried and found to be adequate. The policy 
as expressed in those laws had not been altered and 
would never be altered. Whatever might be said 
against the militarists, no reproach could be justly 
directed against the policy of the Central Govern- 
ment. In the meantime, as there was good reason 
to expect, measures would be devised by the Con- 
ference to improve the general situation in the Far 
East and to regulate the use of prepared opium 
with a view to effective suppresson. This would 
react favorably upon China. 

Mr. Sze noted that Sir Malcolm Delevingne had 
remarked that the recrudescence of the cultivation 
of the poppy in China was a dominant factor in 


38 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


the Far Eastern situation. As Mr. Sze had said 
before, while the situation in China reacted on 
other territories in the Far East, there were other 
equally, if not more, important factors in the situa- 
tion, and among these were the continued official 
sanction of the use of prepared opium in other Far 
Eastern territories and the increasing flood of illicit 
narcotic drugs which were poured into the Far 
East, and especially into China. The bearing of 
this last factor upon the opium situation in China 
had already been mentioned by Mr. Sze. 

The need of money by the militarists had been 
one of the causes leading them to the acquiscence 
in or the encouragement of the cultivation of the 
poppy. A good part of this money had been used 
to buy arms introduced from abroad. As the situa- 
tion improved, this need would decrease, and with 
it the temptation to cultivate the poppy. 

A conference of the leaders of the different parties 
and the different sections in China was about to be 
convened in Peking with a view to discussing plans 
for an immediate unification. The delegation was 
telegraphing to the Government suggesting that the 
question of the suppression of the cultivation of the 
poppy and the use of opium should be one of the 
items on the agenda. 

China was at present in need especially of the 
sympathy and good will of the other Powers. Mr. 
Sze wished to repeat, with all the earnestness in his 
power, what he had said at the sixth meeting: 
“China then’’—that was to say, in 1907 and on- 


ASSURANCES 39 


wards—“ had the especial sympathy and aid of 
Great Britain, India and the United States. She 
now hopes for the same sympathy and co-operation 
not only from these States but also from the other 
Powers.” 


A little over a century ago, the great American 
statesman, Benjamin Franklin, while on a mission 
for his country in Europe, wrote in one of his 
famous dispatches: ‘‘Injuries as well as benefits 
received in time of weakness and distress, national 
as well as personal, make deep and lasting im- 
pressions.”’ 


40 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


UNSATISFACTORY CHARACTER OF 
THE BRITISH PROPOSALS 


At the fourteenth meeting of the First Con- 
ference, Sir Malcolm Delevingne, in behalf of 
the British Empire, submitted the following 
draft proposal for adoption by the Confer- 
ence: 


The Conference expresses the view that the 
method of licensing (or registration) and rationing 
is the most efficacious, if not the only, method— 
short of prohibition— by which the suppression of 
the use of prepared opium can be brought about, 
and recommends that the Governments should keep 
constantly in view the possibility of adopting those 
measures and should, in the meantime, take such 
preliminary measures as may be possible with a 
view to preparing the way for their introduction as 
soon as circumstances permit. 


Mr. Sze, with regard to this proposal, said: 


He was very disappointed by the statement made 
by Sir Malcolm Delevingne. The position of the 
British delegate had been gradually weakening. If 
the Conference referred to the Minutes of the Fifth 
Session of the Advisory Committee, it would find 
on page 64 that Sir Malcolm Delevingne had said: 

‘In his opinion, the present situation in China, 
far from being a reason for remaining inactive, 
called for strong action on the part of the Powers 


BRITISH PROPOSALS Al 


with Far Eastern possessions, which should meet 
and devise measures for strengthening the control 
of the traffic in opium.”’ 


On page 55 of the Minutes of the same session 
he (Delevingne) had said: 


“The easiest and most effective method of carry- 
ing out such an arrangement would be by means 
of a system of licensing and registration.” 


He (Delevingne) had also said: 


‘He would like to see a system established where- 
by the amount of opium to be purchased would be 
stipulated on the license. Complete control could 
be obtained by such a system and the maximum 
consumption could be definitely fixed, and progres- 
sively reduced, in accordance with the provisions 
of the Convention.”’ 


Sir Malcolm Delevingne had dwelt at the present 
meeting, as had other members of the Conference 
on other occasions, on the fact that no active meas- 
ures could be taken owing to the situation in 
neighboring countries. Mr. Sze would therefore 
take the opportunity of answering a question which 
Mr. Campbell had put to him on a previous occa- 
sion. This question had related to the production 
of 15,000 tons of opium in China. Mr. Campbell 
had himself mentioned this figure of 15,000 tons 
during the first two or three days of the Conference. 
On subsequent occasions he had been vague in his 
statements and had not quoted this figure, but at 
the previous meeting, when Mr. Sze had asked 


42 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


him whether literature for the Chinese in Burma 
could be sent in order to educate them and point 
out to them the evil of opium, Mr. Campbell had 
again quoted the figure of 15,000 tons. Mr. Sze 
would therefore be compelled to reply at some 
length. 

The figure of 15,000 tons had been given in a 
pamphlet issued by the International Anti-Opium 
Association of Peking, the members of which were 
mostly English and Chinese. The Bulletin of that 
Association, however, in which the figure appeared 
stated that the figures were given ‘‘without com- 
ment,’ and that they had been obtained from mis- 
sionaries, Chinese newspapers and other Chinese 
sources. The International Anti-Opium Associa- 
tion was an organization of responsible persons, and 
when it quoted figures without comment it should 
convey at once to the careful reader the impression 
that there was some doubt in the mind of the 
Association as to the accuracy of the figures. 

With regard to the sources of the information, 
no fault was to be found with missionaries, but the 
Conference should know how the missionaries ob- 
tained their information. The cultivation of opium, 
which was illegal under Chinese law, chiefly took 
place in two provinces—Yunnan and Szechuan. 
These were a considerable distance away from the 
chief centers and it took a certain time for the 
opium to pass from those provinces to the places 
where it could be consumed, sold or exported. In 
every district through which the opium passed on 


BRITISH PROPOSALS 43 


its way down from the interior of Szechuan, there 
were very good and conscientious missionaries. As 
soon as they heard that a certain amount of opium 
was passing through, they naturally made a note 
of it and reported it at once, as they considered it 
their duty to do, to the Anti-Opium Association in 
Peking, in order to help China to put down the 
opium evil. From the interior of Szechuan or Yun- 
nan, however, to Shanghai was a considerable 
distance, and in every district through which the 
opium passed there was a rumor of its passage. 
Each missionary took note of the rumor and re- 
ported it. By the time the opium from Szechuan 
or Yunnan reached Shanghai many reports had 
been made, so that the figures given to Peking had 
multiplied a large number of times. 

Another source mentioned was the Chinese news- 
papers and “other Chinese sources.’’ Newspapers 
were, on the whole, satisfactory, but they differed 
in quality. Some were anxious to give the true 
facts and some of them printed news which was 
not entirely accurate. The Conference had had 
experience of this. 

Newspapers were sometimes owned by parties, 
and in China, where Western methods of govern- 
ment were being adopted, parties were being formed 
which attacked each other with vigor. It was 
therefore necessary to read Chinese newspapers 
with the same care as American or European news- 
papers when they attacked the parties which did 
not own the newspaper. 


A4 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


There were people in China who desired to create 
prejudices and who set on foot stories and rumors. 
There were also Chinese in China, as was the case 
with foreigners elsewhere, who were financially 
interested in the opium traffic and who desired 
that traffic to continue. This they could only bring 
about by making up a large number of stories so 
that other Powers might innocently quote them as 
being true and thus have an excuse for not adopting 
any measures in their own countries. Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne, however, had stated two years previ- 
ously that the cultivation of the poppy in China 
ought not to be taken by the other Powers as an 
excuse for doing nothing in their own territories. 

Mr. Sze stated that no member of the Conference 
or anyone outside the Conference hall had brought 
conclusive evidence, or even reasonable proof that 
the cultivation of opium in China during 1923 had 
reached 15,000 tons. 

Mr. Sze referred to the well-known story accord- 
ing to which a woman was reported to have vomited 
three black crows, with all the vivid details. Upon 
being traced back to its original source, it was found 
that the woman in question had, in fact, not vom- 
ited even one crow but only something that was 
described as being black asacrow. Mr. Sze added 
that, as Abraham Lincoln had said: ‘‘You can fool 
some people some of the time, some people all the 
time, but you cannot fool all people all the time.” 
Some people might be fooled by the statement re- 
garding the 15,000 tons some of the time, and some 


BRITISH PROPOSALS 45 


of the people all the time, but this figure could not 
fool all people all the time. 


He next took up the question of Chinese smug- 
gling, which was one of the points discussed by the 
Conference and was closely concerned with the 
reason why rationing and registration could not be 
adopted by the Powers. When Mr. Sze had been 
at the University, he had studied the science of 
statistics. It was a criticism by some people that 
statistics could be made to prove anything. This 
was not true, or rather it was only true when the 
statistics were incomplete. 


The British delegation had submitted a large 
number of statistics regarding Hong-Kong. Sir 
Malcolm Delevingne had submitted figures of the 
number of seizures which had been made, during 
the various years, on ships coming from China and 
from elsewhere. This information was interesting, 
but not conclusive. The figures were not sufficient 
to prove the case. The number of seizures was an 
important factor, but was not everything. Other 
important factors were the amount seized, the kind 
of opium seized, whether it was Chinese, Indian, 
Persian or Turkish, by whom it was smuggled, 
whether by Chinese or foreigners, whence it had 
come and to whom it was consigned. It was also 
important to know what was being done with the 
contraband seized and what punishments were 
given to smugglers when caught. These were all 
essential factors which it was necessary to know. 


A6 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


He reminded the Conference of what Sir John 
Jordan had said in the Advisory Committee regard- 
ing smuggling carried on by persons other than 
Chinese. This class of smuggling was very con- 
siderable. If Mr. Sze remembered rightly, Sir John 
Jordan had quoted a case of smuggling by an 
Englishman which had resulted in the largest 
seizure 

He would also like to comment on the estimates 
which had been submitted to the Conference. In 
the statement made regarding the amount of opium 
smuggled from China into Hong-Kong, Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne had said that this opium represented 
only one-tenth of the illicit opium smuggled into 
Hong-Kong. In the next paragraph of his state- 
ment Sir Malcolm Delevingne had quoted an 
authority in Hong-Kong which stated that the 
amount of illicit opium seized was about one-half 
of the total amount used; the difference in these 
two estimates was therefore about 500 per cent. 

Estimates were only estimates and they might or 
might not be accurate. They should therefore be 
accepted with considerable care by the Conference, 
without questioning the good faith of the person 
giving them but because of the general principle 
that the value of estimates was doubtful. 

Mr. Campbell had asked how it was possible to 
put an end to smuggling. This question had been 
dealt with by the Advisory Committee. It was a 
matter which required co-operation. Mr. Sze re- 
ferred to a speech made by Sir John Jordan during 


BRITISH PROPOSALS AT 


the first session of the Advisory Committee (Min- 
utes of the First Session, page 13). Sir John Jordan 
had said that, as long as opium was exported from 
India to Singapore, Macao and numerous other 
places in communication with China, China could 
not adequately cope with the opium question. 

Sir John Jordan had also said that opium, where- 
ever grown, would always reach the consumer. 
Further, he had said that he was in a position to 
prove that a very great quantity of opium entered 
China every year and that he was convinced that 
this would very largely cease to be the case were 
the Government of India to reduce the production 
and export of opium. Without, therefore, wishing 
to minimize the difficulty of smuggling, Mr. Sze 
wished to make it clear that it was not Chinese 
opium alone which complicated the problem. Sir 
John Jordan had called attention to the fact that 
Indian opium also entered China. 

The Japanese delegate had explained how opium 
smuggling could be stopped. It was an important 
fact that an Asiatic Power had proved that this 
question could be delt with and dealt with success- 
fully and that the fears entertained by certain 
Powers were groundless. The British delegate had 
said at a previous meeting, with regard to the situa- 
tion in the British Colonies as regards opium, that 
the Chinese furnished both the supply and the de- 
mand. In regard to this subject, Mr. Sze quoted 
six conclusions of the official report of the Malaya 


48 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


Government which had been distributed to the 
Conference (page A. 12). That report stated: 


“The Opium Commission of 1907-8 reported that 
the general trend of the evidence tendered to them 
indicated that the majority of smokers acquired the 
habit locally.” 


The same report said further on: 


‘“‘(a) At our suggestion a discreet examination of 
‘mmigrants on certain ships from China was made. 
The result of the inquiries shows that, of 1,086 im- 
migrants who had never been in British Malaya 
before, 145, or 13.3 per cent, admitted that they 
were opium-smokers. 


‘“‘(b) Our own Smoking-Room Sub-Committee 
reported that 80 per cent of the 85 smokers ques- 
tioned by them stated that they acquired the habit 
locally. 


‘“(c) In connection with the censuses of opium- 
smokers in hospitals, 1,170 smokers were asked 
where they learnt to smoke opium and 829, or 70.9 
per cent, stated that they acquired the habit 
locally. 

‘““(d) Of the 136 opium-smokers enumerated in 
decrepit wards, 83, or 61 per cent, claimed to have 
commenced the habit in Malaya. 


‘“‘(e) Of the 584 Chinese inmates of leper asylums 
who smoke opium, 341, or 58 per cent, stated that 
they commenced the habit during residence in 
Malaya. 


BRITISH PROPOSALS AQ 


“(f) Our Sub-Committee which made inquiries 
as to opium smoking amongst jinricksha pullers 
found that 65 per cent of the smokers acquired the 
habit locally.”’ 


He need not make any comment on the official 
report of the Malaya Government. 


It had been said that in a prosperous year there 
was a larger consumption of opium among the Chi- 
nese. He appealed to the members of the Confer- 
ence to urge their Governments not to expose the 
Chinese to the temptation of spending their money 
on opium smoking. 


Without wishing unduly to take up the time of 
the Conference, Mr. Sze desired to state, with 
regard to Mr. Campbell’s assertion to the effect 
that Mr. Chao-Hsin Chu had not denied that the 
production of opium in China was 15,000 tons, that 
it was obvoius that such a statement did not require 
any serious notice because anyone who examined 
the matter carefully would at once be convinced 
that it was only hearsay. 


The Chinese delegation was silent in regard to 
some of these allegations because it thought it was 
beneath its dignity to join issue on statements which 
anyone could see at a glance were not true. He was 
sorry that he had found it necessary to make the 
remarks which he had just made, but he had prom- 
ised Mr. Campbell at a preceding meeting that he 
would answer his allegations. He had not made the 
quotations from the statements of other delegations 


50 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


in a spirit of criticism but merely in the sincere hope 
that something could be done to improve the situa- 
tion in the Far East 


Mr. Sze once more appealed to Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne, the author of the proposals of May, 
1923, and asked him if he would not reconsider the 
text which he had just proposed and submit a new 
proposal which could be included in the Agreement. 


The Chinese Government, people and, indeed, 
the whole world looked towards Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne, the author of the proposals which had 
been adopted by the Council and the Assembly of 
the League and which were the subject of the dis- 
cussions of the Conference. In the name of hu- 
manity, Mr. Sze earnestly requested Sir Malcolm 
Delevingne to do something to alleviate the suffer- 
ings supported by humanity for so long a time. 


OPIUM IN MACAO 51 


OPIUM IN MACAO 


At the seventeenth meeting of the First 
Conference, Mr. Sze made the following ob- 
servations regarding the consumption of 
opium in Macao and its possible restriction: 


He made an earnest appeal to the Portugese 
delegation not to press the point. He agreed with 
Sir Malcolm Delevingne. While appreciating the 
difficulties which each administration would en- 
counter when it came to change the system in 
force, he thought that, in view of the fact that the 
new contract in Macao had been given to the 
farmers in June, 1924, and would last for three 
years, at the end of that period, when thecontract 
expired, a new system ought to be introduced. 


It was well known that opium was consumed in 
Macao and that the population there was mostly 
Chinese. The special conditions referred to by the _ 
Portuguese delegate in regard to the floating popu- 
lation of Macao need not be taken into considera- 
tion, in view of what had been stated in a letter 
which Mr. Sze had received from the representative 
of the Chinese National Anti-Opium Association. 
That Association stated that “they would further 
assure the members of the Conference that they 
would do their utmost to co-operate with the colo- 
nial Governments by undertaking to press in our 
own country for legislation with a view to pro- 
hibiting addicted smokers from leaving the country 


52 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


to settle in those colonies, to refuse the entry into 
China of addicted smokers returning from those 
colonies, and to restrict the emigration of Chinese 
into colonies where the registration and rationing 
of opium smokers have not been adopted.”’ If the 
Chinese National Anti-Opium Association agitated 
for legislation on these lines, the Chinese Parlia- 
ment would, he thought, certainly enact measures 
by which the various colonies would be relieved of 
the fear that the Chinese would come to them and 
that they would consequently have to find opium 
for the Chinese smokers. 

He further appealed most earnestly to the Portu- 
guese delegation not to press for the adoption of the 
temporary provision proposed. 


FISCAL POLICY 53 


FISCAL POLICY 


At the seventeenth meeting of the First 
Conference, Mr. Sze made the following pro- 
posal: 


That fiscal considerations will not be allowed to 
influence in a prejudicial manner the character of 
the measures to be taken for the progressive and 
ultimately complete supression of the legal use of 
prepared opium; and that the incidental public 
revenues derived from the legalized importation of 
raw opium and the manufacture, sale and consump- 
tion of prepared opium, as well as from fines and 
confiscations imposed and collected as a result of 
legal convictions, of violations of the laws regu- 
lating the manufacture and use of raw and prepared 
opium and the importation of raw opium, be wholly 
devoted to measures for the prevention of the ac- 
quiring of the vice of smoking opium, for the 
humanitarian care and treatment of addicts, for the 
general social and economic betterment of the 
classes of the people who are especially addicted to 
the use of prepared opium, and for meeting the 
administrative expenses of enforcing the laws 
against the illegal importation of raw opium and 
the manufacture, sale and consumption of pre- 
pared opium. 

Mr. Sze said that the meaning of his proposal 
was too clear to need any explanation. He thought 
that it would prove acceptable to the delegations 
because, as the Conference had already been in- 


54 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


formed by more than one of its members, revenues 
derived from the sale of raw opium were now used 
to a great extent for the welfare of people indulging 
in the opium habit. 


Replying to technical objections made by 
certain of the other delegations to the fore- 
going proposal, Mr. Sze said: 


He could not conceal the great disappointment 
with which he had followed the discussion. The 
question was, in his opinion, an entirely humani- 
tarian one and he thought that all countries repre- 
sented on the Conference desired to help opium 
addicts. Sir Malcolm Delevingne, he thought, had 
misunderstood his proposal. He had not asked 
that any of the revenue derived from opium should 
be used for education. He desired merely that it 
should be used for the benefit of the opium addicts, 


In reply to the point raised by Mr. Bourgois, to 
the effect that it was impossible to earmark revenue 
for a special purpose, he thought that the difficulty 
would be met by making a conservative estimate 
of the amount of revenue to be derived from opium 
and then by using that amount in the budget for 
expenditure on the purpose mentioned in his reso- 
lution. 


He was grateful for the information given by the 
Japanese delegate as to what was being done in 
Formosa. It was the duty of a Government deriv- 


FISCAL POLICY 55 


ing revenue from the sale of opium to do something 
for that part of the population from whom such a 
large revenue was derived. 


Mr. Sze appealed once more to the members of 
the Conference. It had been said, and it was a 
proved fact, that the opium sold in the various 
colonies went mostly to Chinese. While he had no 
intention of interfering in the internal administra- 
tion of these various colonies, he appealed to their 
Governments on humanitarian grounds to use the 
revenue derived from opium or the most part, if 
not entirely, for the improvement of that class of 
the population which smoked opium. 


56 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC 


At the seventh meeting of the First Confer- 
ence, Mr. Sze, with reference to the problem 
of suppressing illicit trade in and consump- 
tion of prepared opium said: 


He wished to make a few brief general remarks © 
in regard to the different statements. The Presi- 
dent asked whether other delegations who had ter- 
ritories in the Far East wished to make any re- 
marks, and he (Mr. Sze) had been awaiting them. 
As none were forthcoming, he wished to make a few 
general remarks. 


He had followed with considerable interest the 
statements made by the different delegations. They 
were certainly very instructive, although he was not 
prepared to concur in all the views expressed. 


He noted that, in the statements made by the 
Dutch delegate, the Portuguese delegate, the dele- 
gate of the British Empire and also the delegates 
who had spoken at the present meeting, mention 
was made of the seriousness of the illicit traffic. In 
this connection he thought it would perhaps be of 
use to the Conference to have, if it were available, 
information as to the nationality of the smugglers, 
the form and amount of the drug smuggled and the 
destination and origin of the smuggled consign- 
ments. 


He noted that the illicit traffic was not only giv- 
ing concern to the Conference but also that, on 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC «BT 


account of it, members spoke of the impractica- 
bility of the immediate suppression of the use of 
prepared opium, because they feared that the sup- 
pression would result in the replacing of legitimate 
opium by smuggled opium. This apprehension was 
not, he thought, so great as members were inclined 
to think. If no prepared opium was to be allowed 
to be smoked, it would be much easier to detect the 
existence of opium, because opium could not be 
smoked without its being easily detected. The 
smell from the smoking was so strong that it could 
be detected at some distance. Further, opium- 
smokers could always be distinguished from non- 
smokers by their complexion, the stain on their 
hands and, in some cases, even by their voice. 


With reference to the statement made by the 
Portuguese delegate, might he ask what Macao had 
done towards the checking of illicit traffic in opium? 
Did the authorities keep track of opium which was 
re-exported from Macao so as to ensure its reach- 
ing its true destination? He noted that the Portu- 
guese delegate had also dwelt upon the subject 
from the ecomonic point of view. He could well 
understand that, for those territories the revenue 
of which depended largely, if not entirely, on smok- 
ing and gambling, it would be difficult if one or both 
were prohibited immediately. If it were on account 
of the fear of the loss of revenue that the suppres- 
sion of opium smoking had been delayed, he sug- 
gested, in view of the recognized harmful effects of 


58 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


the smoking of opium, that Portugal might apply 
to the League of Nations for a loan to tide her over 
the transition period. 


He heartily endorsed the suggestion made by the 
British delegate that the re-export of opium from 
any territory should be stopped, for reasons which 
were so well known to the members of this Con- 
ference and to those who had studied the subject 
that it would be unnecessary to state them. 


The British delegate had called attention to what 
he called the “‘gaps’’ in the statistics supplied to 
the Conference by the Secretariat. It would be 
most useful for the gaps to be filled wherever 
possible. 


He would like to make a request that the Minutes 
of this Conference should be published verbatim 
and not in summary form. 


As regarded the three points mentioned by the 
British delegate, he agreed that they were very im- 
portant matters and that the Conference ought to 
look into them and compare notes upon them. 
Everyone would then work together with the object 
of finding a solution which would be acceptable to 
all, and at the same time bring about an effective 
suppression of prepared opium within a definite 
period of time. 


With reference to the estimate placed by Hong- 
Kong on the proportion of illicit and licit prepared 
opium consumed there and also the estimate given 
by Malaya on the same subject, to what year did 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC 59 


those figures refer and what method had been em- 
ployed in order to arrive at the estimate? Further, 
had those two territories any estimate as to the 
smuggling of opium out of their borders? If so, he 
would like to know what the amount was and by 
what process it was determined. 


The Siamese statement was very interesting. He 
sympathized with the Siamese Government with 
regard to the difficulties resulting from the existence 
of a system of extra-territoriality in the carrying 
out of the work for the suppression of the smoking 
of opium. In view of the difficulties with which it 
had to contend, the results achieved were remark- 
able. ° 

He wished to congratulate the Japanese delegate 
on his dignified and precise statement. He had 
clearly demonstrated what could be done if a real 
effort were made. The statement of the Japanese 
delegate, that “in large measure the question in 
China reacts on the problems in other countries 
and vice versa,’ corroborated the position which 
he had always maintained. While the recrudescence 
of the cultivation of the poppy in China reacted on 
other territories in Asia, the conditions in those 
territories also reacted on China. The Japanese 
delegate had informed the Conference, with refer- 
ence to Formosa, that ‘‘there had been only a few 
infringements of the regulations, contrary to our 
expectations.” This statement ought to dispel the 
apprehensions of others who hesitated to undertake 
measures for the suppression of opium. The fact 


60 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


that Japan could do it successfully in Formosa, 
which was right at the gate of the mainland of 
China, was sufficient evidence that this problem 
of the effective suppression of opium was within 
the realm of practicability. It appeared that the 
fears of others as to what might happen were 
groundless. The economic gain of Formosa ought 
to allay the fears of those who thought that the 
suppression of opium might entail a loss of revenue. 
He joined with the Japanese delegate in urging the 
European Powers to adopt, in their territories in 
Asia, some form of prohibition leading to the even- 
tual suppression of prepared opium within a definite 
period of time. The Japanese delegate had said “‘if 
they (the Powers) would only let the Chinese people 
see their good example and have the benefit of their 
opinion in the solution of the Chinese opium prob- 
lem, then it would indeed help towards hastening 
the solution of the deep-rooted evils of China.” 


If Mr. Sze had understood the French delegate 
correctly, Indo-China admitted that she could not 
efficiently police her own borders even to the extent 
of preventing the formation and operation of armed 
bands of smugglers, who could terrify villages, seize 
women, etc. Here was a confession of Govern- 
mental incompetence even when there were not, as 
there were in China, disturbed political conditions. 
It would appear that the entry of Chinese opium 
into Indo-China was illegal under both the Indo- 
Chinese and the Chinese laws. It would be inter- 
esting to know whether the transit of Chinese opium 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC 61 


through Indo-China had to any extent received the 
approval of the authorities of Indo-China. 


Attention had been called to the smuggling of 
Chinese opium into British India. The Chinese 
delegation would therefore ask whether the Indian 
Government had any figures as to the amount of 
opium produced in the native States of India, and 
especially in the Shan States, and whether the 
Government had any information upon which it 
felt it could rely as to the possibility of the sending 
of such opium produced in these native States either 
directly to China or through Afghanistan. 


Later on, during the same meeting, Mr. Sze said 
that he did not for various reasons propose to reply 
at length to the observations of the Portuguese, 
French and Indian delegates with reference to the 
few general remarks that he had made. First, he 
desired to see the work of the Conference progress 
and an agreement reached which would be accept- 
able to all, and which would provide for the even- 
tual suppression of opium for smoking within a 
definite period of time. He would deal later with 
some of the points raised. 


With reference to the remarks made by the Por- 
tuguese delegate, Mr. Sze quite agreed with him 
and was also content to leave the judgment to 
history. He thought that history knew it. A great 
deal had been written on the subject, and he did 
not propose to argue with the Portuguese delegate 
any further as to what had happened. A great deal 


62 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


had already been discussed in the Advisory Com- 
mittee, and he had also heard (but not officially, 
because China was not represented there) that it 
had been discussed at the Preparatory Committee. 


With regard to the remarks of Mr. Campbell, he 
did not think it was fair for Mr. Campbell to assume 
that, because he had asked a question for informa- 
tion, it necessarily meant an attack. If Mr. Camp- 
bell drew that conclusion, Mr. Sze desired to remind 
him that other delegations on previous occasions 
had asked for information. If such a reproach was 
made, he must say that he had not asked for infor- 
mation for purposes of attack. Information was 
necessary in order that the Conference might have 
certain bases on which to reach an enlightened con- 
clusion. Without information, how could this be 
done? The Conference would be building on an 
insufficient foundation. He would not argue on this 
question further, because the facts were too well 
known. He wished to thank Mr. Campbell for 
the publications he had sent him and to assure him 
that he would study them very carefully. 


With regard to the question of the Chinese al- 
leged production of 15,000 tons, he had purposely 
avoided referring to the debate which had taken 
place the day before between Mr. Chu and Mr. 
Campbell. He did not desire to raise any disagree- 
able matters, and in order to avoid doing so he 
would not refer further to this question at the 
moment, though he would furnish an explanation 
later. 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC 63 


With reference to the remarks of the French 
delegate, Mr. Sze had merely wanted to know the 
facts. He thanked the French delegate for having 
been good enough to read to the Conference the 
note which the French Government had seen fit to 
send to the British Charge d’Affaires. From the 
fact that correspondence had been exchanged be- 
tween the British and French Governments, it fol- 
lowed that the matter was of sufficient importance 
to merit attention. He was glad to know that the 
French Government did not intend to permit in 
future illicit opium from Yunnan to have free pas- 
sage through Indo-China. In China it was desired 
to stop the opium traffic, but great difficulties had 
been encountered. He did not hide that fact. 
China wanted others to help to stop it, and not to 
make it easier for those citizens in China who were 
violating the laws. Not only did China not wish 
to countenance it, but she did not wish other Powers 
to facilitate it. 


While he agreed with the Japanese delegate that 
the situation in China would react on the territories 
of the European Powers in Asia, it must not be 
forgotten that the situation in the colonies of the 
European Powers also reacted on the situation in 
China. 


With reference to the statements contained 
in the Final Act of the First Conference 
(originally intended to be contained in a Pro- 


64 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


tocol), Mr. Sze, in behalf of the Chinese dele- 
gation, filed the following formal statement: 


The Chinese delegation greatly regrets that it is 
unable to subscribe to the Protocol annexed to the 
Draft Agreement [C. O. P. 45 (1)]. It asks, there- 
fore, that the sentence reading: ‘‘The Conference 
further adopted the following Resolution,’ be 
changed so as to read: ‘“‘The Conference, with the 
exception of the Chinese delegation, further adopted 
the following Resolution.”’ 


Following the body of the Protocol, and preced- 
ing the words “In witness whereof, etc.’’, the Chi- 
nese delegation desires that the following state- 
ment be inserted: 


‘“‘The Chinese delegation greatly regrets that it 
is unable to join in the foregoing Protocol. The 
Conference has not been furnished, in the opinion 
of the Chinese delegation, with evidence which 
conclusively demonstrates that, in some of the ter- 
ritories of the Powers in the Far East, the amount 
of contraband trade equals and even surpasses in 
extent the legitimate trade, and that the applica- 
tion of the system of licensing (or registration) and 
rationing is thereby rendered useless and in some 
cases dangerous. The Chinese delegation therefore 
regrets its inability to participate ina statement 
that such is a determined fact. 

“The Chinese delegation regrets also its inability 
to accept the conclusion contained in the last 
paragraph of the Protocol, namely, that the Con- 


ILLICIT TRAFFIC 65 


ference should formally approve the proposition 
that those of the Contracting Powers which have 
not yet applied this system of licensing (or regis- 
tration) and rationing shall be under no obliga- 
tion to do so within a definite period of time, but 
that each shall undertake merely to select the 
moment when circumstances will allow of the 
adoption of the system and to take, in the mean- 
time, such preparatory measures as they may deem 
expedient.” 


66 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


WITHDRAWAL OF THE CHINESE 
DELEGATION FROM THE 
FIRST CONFERENCE 


At the twenty-third meeting of the First 
Conference (which the Chinese delegation did 
not attend) there was presented and read the 
following letter and accompanying memoran- 
dum: 


THE CHINESE DELEGATION TO THE 
FIRST OPIUM CONFERENCE 


GENEVA, February 10th, 1925. 


His EXCELLENCY MONSIEUR G. VAN WETTUM, 
President of the First Opium Conference: 


My dear Mr. President— 


I have the honor to inform you that, for reasons 
given in the memorandum herein enclosed, the Chi- 
nese delegation is convinced that its further partici- 
pation in the First Opium Conference will serve no 
useful purpose. May I ask that this memorandum 
be communicated to the Conference? 

It is with profound regret that my delegation 
has felt itself constrained to take this position, but 
in view of the failure of the Conference to arrive 
at any satisfactory agreement with regard to the 
measures to be taken for the suppression of the 
use of prepared opium, it has felt that no other 
course is open to it. 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE 67 


Permit me to avail myself of this opportunity, 
on behalf of my delegation, to assure you and the 
members of the Conference and the members of 
the Secretariat of the League of Nations of our ap- 
preciation of, and thanks for, the courtesies shown 
to us. 


I remain, my dear Mr. President, 
Yours very sincerely, 


(Signed) Sao-KE ALFRED SZE. 


68 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


MEMORANDUM 


Memorandum submitted by the Chinese 
delegation mentioned in their letter of Feb- 
ruary 10, 1925, to the President of the First 
Conference : 


By the Convention signed at the Hague in 1912, 
the High Contracting Parties obligated themselves 
(Article 6) to ‘‘take measures for the gradual and 
effective suppression of the manufacture of, inter- 
nal trade in, and use of prepared opium,”’ that is, 
of opium used for smoking. This obligation was, 
however, qualified by the provision that those 
Powers which were not then ready immediately to 
prohibit the export of prepared opium, should do 
so as soon as possible, and that, until this prohibi- 
tion is made absolute, the export should be re- 
stricted and controlled in certain specified ways. 


It was the expectation of the world, and certainly 
that of the Chinese people, that the Powers signa- 
tory to the Hague Convention which continued to 
legalize the use of opium would take prompt and 
decisive steps to introduce systems of control which 
would, by their operation, necessarily bring the 
temporarily legalized smoking of opium to an end 
within a few years, or at the termination of a speci- 
fied period. In fact, however, this was not the case, 
and because this was not the result, this First 
Opium Conference was convened. In other words, 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE 69 


the purpose of this Conference was that the Powers 
participating in it should come to some new agree- 
ment as to the action to be taken by them all in 
order to bring about that effective suppression of 
the temporarily legalized use of prepared opium to 
which the Powers had pledged themselves in the 
Hague Convention. 

In the Resolution 5 of the Fourth Assembly of 
the League of Nations which provided for the con- 
vening of this Conference, it was declared that its 
purpose was to be “‘the conclusion of an agreement 
as to the measures for giving effective application 
in the Far Eastern territories to Part II of the 
(Hague) Convention and as to a reduction of the 
amount of raw opium to be imported for the pur- 
pose of smoking in those territories where it is 
temporarily continued.” 


No such effective action is made obligatory upon 
the Powers by the draft Agreement that has re- 
sulted from the labors of the Conference. Some 
few, but not important, unqualified obligations have 
been assumed by the Powers, as, for example, that 
the sale of opium to minors shall be prohibited; 
that minors shall not be allowed to enter smoking 
divans; that ‘“‘dross’’ may be sold only to the State 
monopoly, where one exists; and that the Powers 
shall exchange information and views with one 
another regarding the suppression of illicit traffic 
and the number of smokers. 


All of the other undertakings of the Agreement, 
except the one providing for a review of the situa- 


70 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


tion before the end of the year 1929, and Article 
VI later referred to, are so qualified as to render 
them in no sense imperative. The obligation to 
make the manufacture of prepared opium a Govern- 
ment monopoly is qualified by the phrase “‘as soon 
as circumstances permit’’; the obligation to pay 
retail sellers of opium fixed salaries and without 
commission on sales is to be applied ‘‘experimen- 
tally in those districts where an effective super- 
vision can be exercised by the administrative au- 
thorities,’’ each Power having, of course, the right 
to determine for itself when this condition exists. 
Retail shops for the sale of opium and divans for 
the smoking of opium are to be limited in number 
‘fas much as possible,’’—there is not even an obli- 
gation not to increase the number of retail shops 
and smoking dens now existing. Educational and 
other efforts to discourage the use of prepared 
opium are to be exerted by only those Governments 
which consider such measures desirable under the 
conditions existing in their several territories. 
With regard to legislative measures for rendering 
punishable illegitimate transactions which are car- 
ried out in another country by persons residing 
within their own territories, the Contracting Par- 
ties obligate themselves to do nothing more than 
examine the possibility of such legislation in a most 
favorable spirit. 

The foregoing undertakings furnish the substance 
of the draft Agreement that has been agreed upon 
with the exception of Article VI which prohibits 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE 71 


the exportation of raw or prepared opium from the 
territories in which opium is imported for purposes 
of smoking, the transit through and trans-shipment 
of prepared opium in such territories, and regulates 
the transit through and trans-shipment of raw 
opium in those same territories. 


The Chinese delegation is aware of the practical 
difficulties that have confronted the Powers con- 
cerned in taking effective measures for the suppres- 
sion of the use of prepared opium, but it is con- 
vinced that these difficulties are by no means insur- 
mountable. Therefore, the Chinese delegation is of 
the opinion that the time has come for these Powers 
to declare, in definite terms, either that legalized 
traffic in prepared opium within their several terri- 
tories or possessions will be brought to an end 
within a fixed and reasonable period of time, or 
that they will at once establish and operate, to the 
extent of their administrative and executive power, 
systems of regulation and control which will neces- 
sarily bring about a yearly and progressive diminu- 
tion in the amount of prepared opium legally used, 
and of the number of persons permitted by law to 
purchase and consume this opium—a diminution 
that will proceed at a rate that will bring to an end, 
within a reasonably brief period of time, this per- 
nicious traffic. 

The Chinese delegation has noted the repeated 
declarations of several of the representatives of the 
Governments concerned that their opium policies 
have not been, and will not be influenced by finan- 


12 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


cial considerations. The delegation is, however, 
constrained to say that, however this may be, the 
fact remains that these Governments do obtain 
large public revenues from the traffic, and thus 
furnish occasion for statements like that of Sir John 
Jordan, when in the Opium Advisory Committee 
at one of the meetings of its Fifth Session, he said 
that, so long as Colonies are deriving fifty per cent 
of their whole revenue from the opium traffic, it is 
absurd to say that financial considerations do not 
play a part. 

In addition, there is also the fact, stressed by 
certain of the Colonial officials, that the circum- 
stance should not be ignored that an adequate 
supply of Chinese laborers in their countries is of 
great economic importance, and, therefore, that the 
Governments concerned should hesitate to impose 
restrictions upon the use of prepared opium which 
may operate to interfere with this labor supply. 
Thus, in the Memorandum published by the Court 
of Directors of the British North Borneo Company 
in October, 1923, embodying their views upon the 
measures suggested by the League of Nations Ad- 
visory Committee on Traffic in Opium, it is said 
with reference to the possible introduction of a 
system of registration and licensing (p. 4): 

‘“‘A free inflow of Chinese laborers and settlers is 
vital to the progress and development of North 
Borneo, and the Government would hesitate to 
introduce measures which, in the present state of 
Chinese feeling, must necessarily restrict immigra-. 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE 73 


tion and have a disturbing effect on the resident 
Chinese population.” 

In the Memorandum supplied by the Nether- 
lands Government (C. O. P. 19 O. C. 124), it is 
said with reference to the license system: 

“In some districts, it was necessary to deviate 
from the principle that, after the enforcement of 
the system, no licenses should be issued. Vast 
regions, namely, are largely dependent for their 
economic development on the supply of labor from 
elsewhere, frequently non-native workers (that is, 
Chinese) and should the use of opium be wholly 
prohibited, it would be impossible, or at least 
extremely difficult, to have laborers, so that the 
public welfare would suffer materially from such 
a measure.’ That the Chinese laborers would suffer 
in the absence of such a control is not mentioned. 

Again, in the report of the British Malaya Opi- 
um Committee, which has recently been published, 
there is this declaration (p. A 54): 

“We cannot avoid reflecting upon possible dis- 
turbances of the free influx of Chinese labor which 
might result from restrictions of this nature, unless 
this system were applied universally where the 
Chinese can earn a livelihood. Any check on a free 
flow of labor from China would have disastrous 
effects on the economic position of British Malaya, 
and these territories would be faced with a steadily 
dwindling revenue and steadily increasing expendi- 
ture, owing to costly preventive services and estab- 
lishments required to make the system effective.” 


74 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


And, as to the revenue obtained in British India, 
there is the following conclusion stated in the report 
of the Indian Retrenchment Committee (The Inch- 
cape Report), issued in 1923 (p. 226): 


“Having reviewed the expenditure under the opi- 
um head, we recommend that the possibilities of 
reducing the price paid to cultivators of opium be 
carefully watched with a view to reduction. We 
are informed that there will be a reduction of 
about Rs. 20 Lakhs in expenditure in 1923-24, and, 
in view of the importance of safeguarding this im- 
portant source of revenue, we recommend no fur- 
ther reduction.” 


The statements which have been quoted seem to 
indicate that considerations of a materialistic, even 
if not of a directly public financial, character, play 
a part in the formation of the policies of those 
Governments which continue to legalize the use of 
prepared opium in their territories or possessions. 


It was suggested by the Chinese delegations in 
this Conference that the public revenue derived 
from the opium traffic be applied to the prevention 
and cure of opium addiction, to the economic and 
moral betterment of the classes from which the 
consumers of opium are drawn, and to defraying 
the expenses of more drastic police and adminis- 
trative measures for preventing that illicit traffic 
in opium, which, it is claimed, now interferes with 
the efficient operation of measures for bringing 
about the suppression of the use of prepared opium. 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE 15 


But this suggestion (with the exception of Japan 
in Formosa), the Powers have declined to adopt. 

As to the Protocol that is annexed to the draft 
Agreement, the Chinese delegation does not deem 
it necessary to repeat what it said in the Conference 
at the time its adoption was discussed. It would, 
however, respectfully refer to the statement then 
made. 


As to the draft of the Protocol contained in the 
proposals of the British delegation presented to the 
Joint Committee of Sixteen, and which, it is pro- 
posed, should be annexed to the Agreement to be 
adopted by this Conference, the Chinese delega- 
tion would say that it is unable to subscribe to the 
unqualified assertion contained in the Preamble 
that ‘‘the effective prohibition of the use of pre- 
pared opium in their Far Eastern territories is de- 
pendent on effective measures being taken by the 
producing countries to restrict the production of 
opium and prevent its illicit export.’’ As the Chinese 
delegation has already said, it recognizes that the 
existence of contraband trade in opium constitutes 
an impediment to the effective operation of mea- 
sures for the total suppression of the legalized use 
of prepared opium, but it does not admit that this 
impediment is such as to prevent and excuse the 
Powers concerned from taking immediate steps to 
enforce measures that will, if allowed free play, 
lead, within a definite or reasonably brief period 
of time, to the total prohibition of the legalized 
smoking of opium. With such measures in exist- 


76 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


ence, even though their operation be somewhat 
retarded by illicit trade, the Powers will be in a 
position to increase their efficiency in exact propor- 
tion as the retarding influences, of which contra- 
band is but one, are lessened or wholly removed. 


The Chinese delegation is further unable to give 
its approval to the substance of the declarations or 
undertakings contained in the proposed Protocol 
for the reason that, instead of providing for the 
taking of immediate steps leading to the total sup- 
pression within a definite or reasonably brief period 
of time of the legalized use of prepared opium, they 
postpone the initiation of such measures to an 
indefinite and contingent date. 


In view of the foregoing, the Chinese delegation 
is constrained to say that it deems that no useful 
purpose will be served by its further participation 
in the work of the Conference. The Chinese dele- 
gation is, however, convinced that in order suc- 
cessfully to cope with the problem of opium in all 
its phases, international co-operation is required. 
Whenever the Powers signatory to the Hague Con- 
vention of 1912 are prepared to conclude ‘‘an Agree- 
ment as to the measures for giving effective applica- 
tion in the Far Eastern territories to Part II of the 
(Hague) Convention and as to a reduction of the 
amount of raw opium to be imported for the pur- 
pose of smoking in those territories where it is 
temporarily continued,” they will find China not 
only ready but eager to co-operate to the full extent 
of her power. In the meantime China will continue 


WITHDRAWAL OF CHINESE Cad 


its policy of absolutely prohibiting the production 
of opium and its use for other than medicinal and 
scientific purposes. The present conditions in China 
which, unfortunately, make it impossible for the 
Government of China to secure an effective en- 
forcement of this policy, are temporary in char- 
acter. The Government of China gives the assur- 
ance that it will not depart from its policy with 
regard to opium, and that it will, at all times, 
exert all the executive and administrative power 
possessed by it to enforce that policy. This the 
Government of China will continue to do, inde- 
pendently, and without regard to the action of 
other Powers. It is the hope of the Government 
and the people of China that, reciprocally with 
their independent effort to suppress the produc- 
tion and control the use of opium within the borders 
of China, the other Powers will upon their part 
make every effort to prevent illegal traffic in opium 
and narcotic drugs, and progressively to suppress 
the legalized use of prepared opium. 


78 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 
ANNEXES TO PARTI 


ANNEX I 


The Secretary of the First and Second 
Opium Conferences has the honor to circulate 
for the information of the delegates to the 
Conferences, the following petition submitted 
by the National Anti-Opium Association of 
China (Circulated November 14, 1924) : 


1. WHEREAS the welfare of the whole human 
race is threatened by the rapid increase in the use 
of opium and allied narcotic drugs for other than 
scientific or medicinal purposes; and 


2. WHEREAS in China there is a manifest re- 
crudescence of this evil in recent years, due to 
the prevalence of civil strife entailing the regret- 
table neglect of the law for the suppression of 
opium and in part to the increased importation of 
narcotics from other lands; and 


3. WHEREAS Chinese emigrants and traders liv- 
ing in the Straits Settlements, East Indies and other 
territories under the jurisdiction of other powers 
have to a considerable extent been victims of opium 
and allied narcotics; and 


4. WHEREAS we believe co-operation by all na- 
tions in controlling production, manufacture and 
sale of opium and its allied narcotics is the most 
effective way to deal with this menace, 


ANNEXES 79 


WE, who as a people have been the direct suffer- 
ers because of this evil, while affirming our deter- 
mination, as representing the will of the Chinese 
nation, to eradicate the production and consump- 
tion of opium in China in the immediate future and 
committing ourselves to overcome all obstructions 
to this end, hereby respectfully petition your Con- 
ferences to secure an agreement among all nations 
to limit the production of opium and its derivatives 
and of cocaine strictly to the amount required by 
scientific and medicinal purposes, thereby greatly 
helping not only the Chinese but also the people 
of other lands in their struggle to overthrow this 
evil, and so using the unique opportunity to fulfil 
the mission entrusted to you to render a service to 
the whole human family. 


Respectfully submitted, 


(Signed) GrEorRGE C. Hsu, 
President, National Anti-Opium Association. 


K. T. Chung, 
Secretary, National Anti-Opium Association. 


Shanghai, China, October 16, 1924. 


80 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 
Annex II 


Letter from M. T. Z. Koo, representative 
of the National Anti-Opium Association of 
China, to His Excellency M.S. K. Alfred Sze, 
and circulated to the delegations through the 
Secretariat. 


4, Chemin du Square, Geneva. 


November 15, 1924. 


H. E. S. K. ALFRED SZE, 
Chinese Delegation to the Opium 
Conference, Geneva. 


My dear Dr. Sze: 


I had hoped to have an opportunity to address 
the First Opium Conference in order to present to 
the members of that body the hopes of the National 
Anti-Opium Association of China as to the agree- 
ments that might result from the deliberations of 
the Conference. Because of the limited time that 
remains at the disposal of the Conference I have 
hesitated to ask of it that it should spare me the 
time to address it in person, but I feel that I am 
obligated, as the authorized representative of a 
great body of Chinese citizens, to express to you 
in concise form the eager hope of those for whom I 
speak that, from the work of the Conference there 


ANNEXES 81 


shall result agreements by the Powers which will 
bring to an early and complete end the smoking of 
opium within their several territories and posses- 
sions. You do not need to be told, as I know the 
other members of the Conference do not need to 
be told, that the people of China view with pro- 
found concern the fact that their fellow-citizens 
living under other jurisdictions are permitted by 
law to continue or even to contract the habit of 
smoking opium, and that their concern is increased 
when they see that so slight an advance has been 
made towards the effective suppression of the 
manufacture of, internal trade in, and use of pre- 
pared opium as provided for in Article 6 of the 
Hague Convention to which all the Powers repre- 
sented in the present Conference are parties signa- 
tory. And the fact, too, that those Governments 
which still sanction by their laws the smoking of 
opium, derive from the importation of raw opium, 
and the manufacture and sale of prepared opium 
such considerable public revenues creates in their 
minds the fear lest, consciously or unconsciously, 
those Governments be deterred by fiscal considera- 
tions from taking as energetic measures, and en- 
forcing them with as much administrative vigor, as 
they otherwise might do. 


It is for these reasons that I ask of you that you 
will read or submit this letter to the Conference. 
Especially are many members of the National Anti- 
Opium Association, for which I speak, anxious that 
a plan shall be agreed upon by the Conference 


82 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


which will fix a definite date at which the legalized 
smoking of opium will be brought to an end, or at 
least a plan which will so operate as automatically 
to decrease, year by year, the legalized smoking of 
opium, and wholly to terminate it within a brief 
period. 


The National Anti-Opium Association of China 
views with especial approval, as calculated to 
achieve the end it desires, the proposition that there 
shall be prepared in each territory in which the 
smoking of opium is permitted by law, a register 
of confirmed smokers; that only those persons shall 
be registered who, as shown by a careful medical 
examination, are so addicted to the vice that they 
should not be wholly deprived of the opportunity 
to smoke; that, upon the basis of this examina- 
tion, definite amounts or rations of opium which 
those registered shall be entitled to consume shall 
be fixed by law and that, after this register shall 
have been completed, no new names shall be added, 
with the result that, as the years go by, the num- 
ber of registered or licensed smokers will continu- 
ally decrease until none are left. 


Speaking for the members of the National Anti- 
Opium Association which I have the honor to repre- 
sent, I can assure the members of the Conference 
that they will spare no effort within their power 
and grudge no sacrifice that may be necessary, to 
bring to an end, in co-operation with the Chinese 
Government, the illegal production and use of pre- 


ANNEXES 83 


pared opium in so far as it now exists in China, and 
thus, in this respect, to bring our country back to 
the situation which it occupied in 1917. They 
would further assure the members of the Confer- 
ence that they would do their utmost to co-operate 
with the Colonial Governments by undertaking to 
press in our own country for legislation with a view 
to prohibit addicted smokers from leaving the 
country to settle in these colonies, to refuse the 
entry into China of addicted smokers returning 
from these colonies and to restrict the emigration 
of Chinese into colonies where the registration and 
rationing of opium smokers have not yet been 
adopted. I am, 


Yours faithfully, 


(Signed) T. Z. Koo, 


Representative, National Anti-Opium 
Association of China. 





84 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


Annex III 


A MEMORIAL FROM THE MEDICAL 
PROFESSION IN CHINA TO THE 
LEAGUE OF NATIONS 





(Sent out from the International Opium 
Association, Peking) 





WHEREAS, The League of Nations is endeavoring 
to promote the Public Health of every country by 
means of international regulations and agreements; 
and 


WHEREAS, Special efforts are being made to 
diminish and eventually eradicate the opium evil 
in all its forms, and important conferences on the 
subject will be held by the League of Nations next 
November; and 


WHEREAS, It must greatly strengthen the work 
of the League of Nations and powerfully influence 
public opinion in China when it is known that the 
medical practitioners of China condemn the culti- 
vation of the poppy and the unnecessary use of 
opium and its derivations; therefore 


The NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF CHINA 
with five hundred members, representing the scien- 
tific medical opinion of the Chinese, and the CHINA 
MEDICAL MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION with a mem- 


ANNEXES 85 


bership of five hundred and fifty composed mainly 
of British and American physicians practicing in 
China, representing foreign medical opinion on the 
subject, respectfully present the following memorial 
to the League of Nations: 


1. We heartily approve the purpose of the Com- 
mittees and Sub-Committees of the League of Na- 
tions to determine the legitimate requirements of 
various countries in regard to narcotic drugs and: 
to restrict the world production to the amount 
actually required for medical and scientific pur- 
poses. Further, we desire to co-operate with the 
League of Nations in whatever other measures it 
may recommend for the suppression of the narcotic 
drug evil. 


2. We hereby record our opinion that the ha- 
bitual use of opium, and still more of morphia and 
heroin, is unnecessary, deleterious and morally de- 
grading; we repudiate entirely the suggestion that 
the habitual or continual use of these drugs (except 
when prescribed by physicians in cases of advanced 
and painful diseases such as cancer) can ever be 
anything but harmful. 


3. Recognizing that a certain proportion of the 
victims have acquired the drug habit in connec- 
tion with the medical use of drugs, and as the habit 
so acquired is often worse than the disease for 
which it was prescribed, we desire to emphasize 
once again that the greatest care should be exer- 
cised by physicians in prescribing such drugs, and 


86 THE FIRST CONFERENCE 


that no lay person should be permitted to purchase 
opium in any form except upon the prescription of 
a properly qualified practitioner. 


4. We hereby record our conviction that owing 
to the nature of morphia and the other narcotic 
alkaloids, no measures to prevent smuggling can 
ever prove efficient, and, therefore, we heartily en- 
dorse the view that the production in all countries 
should be so limited that the total world require- 
ments for medical and scientific use of these drugs 
shall not be exceeded. 


Respectfully submitted, 


Signed on behalf of the NATIONAL MEDICAL As- 
SOCIATION OF CHINA, 
By President. 


By Vice-President. 


Signed on behalf of the CHINA MEDICAL MIssIon- 
ARY ASSOCIATION, 
By President. 


By Secretary. 


PART IT 


THE SECOND OPIUM CONFERENCE 


Important Statements of the Chinese 
Delegation 





CHINA’S POLICY REAFFIRMED 89 


CHINA’S POLICY OF PROHIBITION 
REAFFIRMED 


At the fourth meeting of the Second Con- 
ference, Bishop Brent, of the American dele- 
gation, made an eloquent appeal that effective 
action be taken to achieve the purpose for 
which the Conference had been convened. The 
next day, at the fifth meeting, Mr. Sze said: 


I was greatly impressed yesterday as I sat next 
to our distinguished President and listened to the 
eloquent address of Bishop Brent. Since then the 
more I think of it, the more profoundly I am im- 
pressed. I desire to say that the Chinese Govern- 
ment and the Chinese people will, I know, concur 
in what he has said. 


Yesterday, Bishop Brent, the day on which you 
spoke, was the first day in two weeks on which we 
saw bright sunshine and today we continue to fol- 
low the lead you have taken in the general discus- 
sion. The sun continues to shine and we see bright 
light all around us. This is a happy augury. 


Especially do I thank you, Bishop Brent, for say- 
ing: ‘‘China does not desire, nor will she be bene- 
fited by, the pity, the cynicism or the criticism of 
sister nations. She needs their encouragement and 
active aid.’’ I also thank you for the statement 
that “‘the courageous treatment of this question (of 


90 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


opium), in countries where the Chinese are resident 
in large numbers, could not fail to have its effects 
on China.” 


I note also that, regarding the proposition that 
I had the honor to make in the First Conference, 
to the effect that the Governments which derive 
profits from the sale of prepared opium to persons 
addicted to opium smoking should use these reve- 
nues in one way or another for the benefit of those 
unfortunates from whom the revenues are derived, 
you say: ‘‘This is a question which must be frankly 
answered, especially by such countries as claim 
that traffic in prepared opium is not practiced for 
the purpose of making revenue.’’ I also note that 
you say: ‘“The whole world waits for the answer.” 


China has suffered, and is now suffering, more 
than other nations from the misuse of opium and 
of narcotic drugs, but what I wish to say now relates 
more to the general humanitarian aspects of the 
question, which must appeal to all right-thinking 
peoples and to their Governments than to the spe- 
cial sufferings of the Chinese people. 


The last century saw the disappearance among 
all civilized people of the institution of human 
slavery and the outlawing of slave trade, so as to 
place it in the same category as piracy upon the 
high seas. The world is now awakened to the de- 
basing effects, physical and moral, of the use of 
opium and its derivatives and of other narcotic 


CHINA’S POLICY REAFFIRMED 91 


drugs for other than strictly medicinal and scien- 
tific uses. 


Surely this Conference will not disappoint the 
hope of the peoples of the world that, so far as is 
possible by common action on the part of the 
Powers, steps, far in advance of those made obliga- 
tory by the Hague Convention of 1912, will be 
taken by this Conference towards the suppression 
of this scourge which now so generally and so 
grievously afflicts humanity. 


Surely we will not allow it to be said that the na- 
tions of the world, now gathered in friendly union 
in this room, will be willing for it to be said that 
they were not able to come to agreement as to the 
action to be taken by them individually or in co- 
operation with one another in order that, by pro- 
gressive steps, mankind may be freed from the 
curse which now afflicts it. 


I, of course, recognize that the regulation of the 
consumption of opium and drugs in any form or 
in any way by the people of a given State is, from 
the standpoint of public law, a matter for itself to 
determine and without any responsibility towards 
other nations, save from the broad humanitarian 
point of view, which, being ethical in character, 
rises above legal considerations. On behalf of the 
Chinese Government and of the Chinese people, 
however, I am able to pledge their support on 
behalf of any action that may be agreed to by the 
Powers which will tend to secure the results which 
are the purpose of this Conference. 


92 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


Nearly twenty years ago, the Chinese Govern- 
ment, supported by the efforts of the most enlight- 
ened of its subjects, determined that the produc- 
tion and use of opium, save for strictly medicinal 
and scientific purposes, should cease throughout the 
broad territories of China. This aim was, within a 
period of ten years of heroic effort, substantially 
achieved. Since then, most regrettably, there has 
been a certain recrudescence of the cultivation of 
poppy, due to disturbed political conditions. The 
Chinese Government, however, has never departed, 
nor will it depart, from the policy declared in 1906. 


When, happily, the Government at Peking is 
again able to exert full executive and administra- 
tive authority, it will, as one of its first activities, 
take steps to the full extent of its powers, to free 
the country once more from the misuse of opium, 
of its derivatives and of other narcotic drugs— 
drugs which, it may be said, are not manufactured 
in China and which may not be legally introduced 
into the country save for strictly medicinal and 
scientific purposes. 


The Chinese Government, when it is able to act 
with efficiency, will certainly have the support of 
the best classes of its people. 


There is a rapidly rising flood of public opinion, 
far surpassing what has ever before existed, which 
demands that the present production and consump- 
tion of opium within China, which is illegal under 
the Chinese law, shall cease. I have already had 


CHINA’S POLICY REAFFIRMED = 93 


the honor to lay before the First Conference some 
of the evidence showing the spread of this deter- 
mination among the most intelligent of the Chinese 
people. In this connection, I would refer also to 
the letter of Mr. Koo, the representative of the 
recently organized National Anti-Opium Associa- 
tion of China. Only two days ago, I received a 
cablegram from the Secretary of that Association 
informing me that there are now represented in that 
Association thirteen hundred organizations, repre- 
senting two million people. 


My present purpose in stating these facts regard- 
ing China is solely in order to show the approval 
with which the views of Bishop Brent will be re- 
ceived by the Chinese Goverment and by the Chi- 
nese people. So far as they are concerned, the 
Conference may count upon their full co-operation 
in any action that may be taken by the Powers in 
general to lessen and, if possible, to bring to a com- 
plete end the evils now afflicting mankind by reason 
of the misuse of opium, of its derivatives, and of 
other narcotics drugs. 


At the fourteenth meeting of the Sub-Com- 
mittee B, Mr. Sze made the following addi- 
tional statement as to what would be China’s 
official policy with regard to the production 
of opium: 


Mr. Sze stated that the production of opium 


94 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


was prohibited in China. The Chinese laws on the 
subject were very definite, very strict, and very 
comprehensive. Unfortunately, poppy-growing had 
again increased owing to the disturbed condition of 
the country. The Chinese Government, however, 
had not altered the laws and the production of 
opium was still prohibited. The speaker was 
authorized by his Goverment, therefore, to state, 
both in the Sub-Committee and in the Plenary 
Conference, that China was still entirely in favor 
of the suppression of poppy-growing for other than 
medical and scientific purposes. The Government 
was determined to pursue this policy no matter 
what attitude might be adopted by the other 
Powers. It was to be hoped, however, that the 
latter would adopt the same policy, as the measures 
enforced by one country were bound to react on the 
situation in other countries. China was prepared, 
accordingly, to accept Article I of the American 
proposal, without reservation.} 


1 Article I of the American Proposal was as follows: 


‘‘The Contracting Powers shall enact effective laws or regu- 
lations for the control of the production and distribution of 
raw opium and coca leaves so that there will be no surplus 
available for purposes not strictly medical or scientific. 


‘The foregoing provision shall not operate to prevent the 
production for exportation, or exportation, of raw opium for 
the purpose of making prepared opium, into those territories 
where the use of prepared opium is still temporarily permitted 
under Chapter II of this [Hague Opium] Convention, so long 
as such exportation is in conformity with the provisions of 
this Convention.” 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 95 


COMPETENCE OF THE SECOND 
CONFERENCE 


At the seventh plenary meeting of the Sec- 
ond Conference, Mr. Sze, with reference to 
the question of the competence of the Confer- 
ence to deal with the American proposal for 
the limitation of the amount of opium and 
coca leaf to be produced so that there would 
be no surplus available for non-medicinal and 
non-scientific uses, said: 


The Chinese delegation has this to say with 
regard to the scope of this Conference. My dele- 
gation understands that this Conference has been 
called in order that the Powers represented here 
may agree upon common action for the full realiza- 
tion of the aims of the Hague Convention; these 
aims have been officially declared in the two Ameri- 
can resolutions presented to the Opium Advisory 
Committee at its fifth session, and, with certain 
reservations as to legitimacy, under the Hague 
Convention, of the use of prepared opium, approved 
by the Assembly of the League of Nations. 


These resolutions read as follows: 

“1. If the purpose of the Hague Opium Conven- 
tion is to be achieved according to its spirit and true 
intent, it must be recognized that the use of opium 
products for other than medicinal and scientific 
purposes is an abuse and not legitimate. 


96 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


‘‘2. In order to prevent the abuse of these drugs, 
it is necessary to exercise the control of the produc- 
tion of raw opium in such a manner that there will 
be no surplus available for non-medicinal and non- 
scientific purposes.” 


The determination of the League to invite all the 
nations of the world to assemble, through their 
representatives on this Conference, was predicated 
upon the American proposals. In its report of June 
16, 1923, to the Council of the League, the Advisory 
Committee say: 


‘These proposals were amplified by the United 
States representatives, who, in commenting on 
them, showed that they were in full accordance 
with both the letter and the spirit of the Inter- 
national Opium Convention of 1912. 


“The Committee very fully examined the pro- 
posals of the United States. It would be difficult 
in a short space to summarize the discussions which 
took place, but a full report of them is included in 
the Minutes of the meetings and reference should 
be made to them. 


“After a long discussion, and on the proposal of 
a Drafting Committee, which was appointed to pre- 
pare the final text, the Committee adopted unani- 
mously the following resolution.”’ 


Then follows the resolution, the fourth paragraph 
of which reads: 

“Asa means of giving effect to the principles sub- 

mitted by the representatives of the United States 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 97 


and the policy which the League, on the recom- 
mendation of the Committee, has adopted, and 
having regard to the information now available, the 
Advisory Committee recommends to the Council 
the advisability of inviting the Governments... . 
to enter into immediate negotiations . . . . tocon- 
sider whether, with a view to giving the fullest 
possible effect to the Convention of 1912, agree- 
ments could not now be reached between them.”’ 


There then follows in the resolution of the Ad- 
visory Committee a statement of the various points 
upon which it is desirable that agreement should be 
reached. No statement or suggestion is made by 
the Committee, nor by the Assembly of the League 
which approved the resolution, that the points thus 
enumerated exhausted all those that might be in- 
volved in any common agreement which might be 
reached by the nations with a view to giving the 
fullest possible effect to the purposes of the Hague 
Convention as defined in the American resolutions. 


This Conference would be controlled by an ex- 
traordinarily technical, not to say strained, interpre- 
tation of its province and powers were it to decide 
that it could examine, and come to agreement, only 
upon those points which, by way of description 
rather than by way of limitation, the Advisory 
Committee and the Assembly deemed desirable to 
refer to in their resolutions. Certainly it had not 
occurred to the Chinese delegation that the Con- 
ference would consider itself competent to consider 


98 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


only measures directly relating to the points enu- 
merated by the Advisory Committee and by the 
Assembly of the League. 


Certainly, also, it has been the expectation of 
the peoples of the world that the Conference should 
seek in every way possible to abate, and if possible 
wholly to correct, the evils that now result from the 
abuse of opium, of cocaine, of their derivatives, and 
of other similar narcotic drugs. 


Apart from other and more general considera- 
tions, the Chinese delegation is concerned with the 
matter at issue, since it desires that the Conference 
should give its favorable consideration to certain 
proposals which the delegation will make for carry- 
ing out effectively the provisions of Chapter IV of 
the Hague Convention. (Applause.) 


At the eleventh plenary meeting, with ref- 
erence to the question of competence of the 
Second Conference, Mr. Sze further said: 


Mr. President, members of the Conference: I 
want first of all to thank the delegate of Bolivia for 
his courtesy in allowing me to speak before him. 


The paper that I am about to read to you was 
prepared yesterday before I had had the advantage 
of listening to the speeches made this morning; 
therefore, I do not propose to touch upon these 
recent speeches except to say one or two words of 
appreciation in respect of one or two of the speakers. 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 99 


I want to tell you all that I have always believed 
in the sincerity of the distinguished delegate of the 
British Empire. I have been associated with him 
in the First Conference. I need only remind you 
that he was the author of the program for that 
Conference. I have followed him most closely and 
have seen how he tried to put through the pro- 
gram which he proposed. For that very reason I 
asked him, begged him, implored him again and 
again, in the First Conference to get his program 
through and, if possible, to get through more than 
he had proposed to the Advisory Committee. 


As to the remarks made by the delegate for the 
Netherlands, I noticed that he emphasized his point 
regarding opium for export. In discussing the ques- 
tion of opium for export, it will be difficult not to 
touch upon one or two aspects of opium declared 
and even certified for domestic use only. We all 
know that some of the opium imported into the 
Far Eastern territories and possessions of the Euro- 
pean Powers for local consumption has found chan- 
nels by which to leave such territories and posses- 
sions and go to other countries. —The memorandum 
of the Persian delegation also throws considerable 
interesting light on opium exported from a neigh- 
boring country which should never have left the 
borders of that producing country. 


I fully subscribe to the principle that nations 
assembled in a Conference should not attempt to 
dictate to one of their members the domestic poli- 


100 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


cies it should pursue. Especially in the case of 
India, as we were told by its distinguished delegate 
in the First Opium Conference, the Government 
operates under the peculiar disadvantage that such 
efforts as it might be disposed to make to educate 
its subjects regarding the evils of the misuse of 
opium would be worse than futile. He quoted as 
an instance—an instance which was within his per- 
sonal and official knowledge—the experience of his 
Government at a time when plague was raging. The 
people were exhorted by the Government to take 
preventive measures and they refused to do so. 
When, however, the Govermnent ceased its efforts, 
the people themselves, feeling that they were act- 
ing without governmental compulsion, at once took 
action to free themselves from the scourge from 
which they were suffering. 


While thus agreeing with the distinguished dele- 
gate of India that a country must determine for 
itself what is feasible and desirable for it to do in 
regard to the production and use of opium, I am 
not able to agree with him, but, rather, must agree 
with the views of the delegation of the United 
States of America, that, when an International 
Conference is considering a matter of world-wide 
importance, it is proper that it should examine that 
matter in all its aspects, even though, incidentally, 
it becomes necessary to consider conditions in a 
particular country, provided, of course, that that 
consideration is controlled by a spirit of friendliness 
and fairness. 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 101 


In the First Conference the distinguished dele- 
gate of the Government of India did not hesitate— 
indeed, he seemed to show at times even an eager- 
ness—to animadvert upon conditions in my own 
country. To this I raised no objection save when 
I thought that he had been misled, by a too credu- 
lous mind, to accept as true statements for which, 
in fact, there was no adequate supporting evidence. 


It seems to me that, as was said by the dis- 
tinguished first delegate of the United States of 
America, the Indian Government should not be 
too apprehensive of what may be the outcome of 
a discussion regarding the possibility of so limiting 
the production of the world’s opium as to leave no 
surplus for other than strictly medicinal and scien- 
tific uses. Should the Conference, as a result of 
that discussion, embody in the Convention which 
it drafts proposals which are not acceptable to the 
Indian Government, that Government can, by ex- 
press reservations, relieve itself from obligation to 
enforce them within its own jurisdiction. 


It is a strange proposition that a single partici- 
pating Government may demand that an Interna- 
tional Conference shall exclude from its considera- 
tion a subject of general and great importance 
simply because that Government fears that, inci- 
dentally, references may be made to conditions of 
fact existing within its territories and because it is 
apprehensive that agreements may be reached by 
the other Powers to which it may have to make 
reservations. 


102 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


As regards technical questions regarding the 
competence of this Conference, I have no desire to 
speak at length. The issue has been somewhat con- 
fused by the allegation upon the part of the dis- 
tinguished first delegate of the Government of India 
of an understanding, based, in part at least, upon 
unrecorded events and upon his personal interpre- 
tation of them, that the proposition contained in 
Article 1 of the American delegation’s draft would 
not be presented to this Conference by that dele- 
gation. 


It seems, however, from the statement made by 
the American delegation that there was no such 
understanding. At any rate, this side issue is of 
no importance to the Conference, for, even had such 
an understanding existed between the representa- 
tives of the American and Indian Governments, it 
would still be within the right of any other Govern- 
ment represented at this Conference to make the 
same proposal as that which the American delega- 
tion has made in Article 1 of its program. 


This, then, brings us back to the real question of 
what may be termed the constitutional competence 
of this Conference, and this question is a very sim- 
ple one. The Conference, as is admitted by all, 
derives its competence from the invitation that 
called it into being. That invitation was issued by 
the League of Nations in pursuance of a resolution 
adopted on September 27, 1923, which stated that 
the Conference should be called to devise measures 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 103 


to be taken “as a means of giving effect to the 
principles submitted by the representatives of the 
United States of America and to the policy which 
the League, on the recommendation of the Advisory 
Committee, has adopted.’”’ These American pro- 
posals, which the Assembly of the League itself 
denominates as “principles,” although the first 
delegate of the Government of India objects to the 
term, state, in so many words, that, if the purpose 
of the Hague Convention is to be achieved accord- 
ing to its spirit and true intent, the use of opium 
products for other than medicinal and scientific 
purposes is an abuse and is not legitimate, and 
that, if this abuse and illegitimate use is to be pre- 
vented, the production of raw opium must be so 
controlled that there will be no surplus available 
for non-medicinal and non-scientific purposes. 


It has been said that it was not within the juris- 
diction of the Advisory Committee, not even of the 
League itself, to construe the meaning of the Hague 
Convention. This is true in the sense that neither 
the Advisory Committee nor the League can give 
to the Hague Convention a construction that will 
legally determine the obligations under it of the 
Powers signatory to it. But it was fully within the 
competence of the Advisory Committee of the 
League and of the League itself to announce to the 
world what was its own construction of the pur- 
pose of the Hague Convention, and, in the light of 
that construction, to invite the nations of the world 
to meet again in order to agree, by common action, 


104 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


upon means, further than those already in opera- 
tion, for realizing the aims thus declared. 


The nature of this Conference or of its compe- 
tence would not have been changed if the League 
had simply affirmed, without reference to the 
Hague Convention, that the use of opium products 
for other than medicinal and scientific purposes is 
an abuse and that, for the correction of that abuse, 
it seemed to the League that the production of 
opium should be so controlled that there would be 
no surplus available for non-medicinal and non- 
scientific purposes, and that, based upon that pro- 
posal, the Powers should assemble in order to de- 
termine concerted means for giving effect to it. 


The honorable delegate of the Government of 
India has called attention to the fact that, in the 
Advisory Committee, at the time the American 
proposals were accepted, he made the reservation 
that the use of raw opium according to established 
practice in India, and its production for such use, 
were not to be deemed illegitimate under the Hague 
Convention. 


No reference is made in the resolutions adopted 
by the Assembly of the League to this reservation, 
but, whatever significance, little or great, may be 
attached to this omission, it is to be observed that 
the reservation in question has, by its very terms, 
no further force than to assert that the established 
use of opium in India, and its production for that 
use, do not come under the ban of the Hague Con- 


COMPETENCE OF CONFERENCE 105 


vention. The reservation does not assert that the 
established use of opium in India is legitimate in 
the broader and intrinsic sense of being physically 
and morally harmless. Despite the world’s medi- 
cal and scientific opinion, the Indian Government 
may maintain that, as used in India, opium is thus 
harmless, but this proposal is not contained in the 
reservation made by the Indian representative in 
the Advisory Committee. 


In June, 1921, upon the motion of the repre- 
sentative of the Republic of China, Dr. Welling- 
ton Koo, the Council of the League of Nations 
resolved: 


‘That, in view of the world-wide interest in the 
attitude of the League toward the opium question, 
and of the general desire to reduce and restrict the 
cultivation and production of opium to strictly 
medicinal and scientific purposes, the Advisory 
Committee on Traffic in Opium be requested to 
consider and report, at its next meeting, on the 
possibility of instituting an inquiry to determine 
approximately the average requirements of raw 
and prepared opium specified in Chapters I and II 
of the [Hague] Convention for medical and scien- 
tific purposes in different countries.”’ 


In view, then, of this resolution, proposed by the 
representative of China more than three years ago 
and adopted by the Council, and in view of what I 
have just now had occasion to say, the Chinese 


106 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


delegation to this Conference declares that it sup- 
ports the proposition that this Conference is compe- 
tent to discuss and act upon the proposal contained 
in Article 1 of the American program, and is, there- 
fore, prepared to support the motion made by Mr. 
Porter that this proposal be referred to the First 
Committee. 


THE ANTI-OPIUM MOVEMENT 107 


THE ANTI-OPIUM MOVEMENT IN 
CHINA 


At the fourteenth plenary meeting of the 
Second Conference, supplementing what he 
had said in the First Conference regarding 
the growth of an anti-opium movement in 
China, Mr. Sze said: 


Mr. President and members of the Conference, 
owing to the lateness of the hour I do not propose 
this afternoon to discuss the many points which 
have been raised by the different speakers today. 
I shall reserve that pleasure for a subsequent occa- 
sion. 


When I received a copy of the agenda this morn- 
ing, I did not expect that there would be so much 
of a tempest in the teacup this afternoon. I thought 
that questions of a similar nature had been dis- 
cussed before when the American delegation sub- 
mitted Article 1 and Article 9a of their proposals 
to this Conference. I therefore thought it would 
be unnecessary for me to trespass upon your time 
by preparing a set speech to read to you. As Iam 
not going to read any special paper, I just want to 
put on record one or two statements which I think 
I ought to make clear to you. 


First of all, I consider that the First Conference, 
unhappily and unfortunately, has not come to the 
conclusions that we all would have liked to see. 


108 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


Even so distinguished and so expert an authority 
as my distinguished friend the chief delegate of the 
British Empire told you this afternoon that the 
work of the First Conference was not as satisfac- 
tory as he could have wished; I would like to ask 
any and every member of the First Conference if 
they do not agree with the distinguished chief dele- 
gate of the British Empire. I certainly do. It would 
be unfair on my part if I did not tell you so. My 
distinguished friend from Great Britain, however, 
has preceded me, so I simply want to confirm what 
he has said, namely, that the work of the First 
Conference has, unfortunately and unhappily, been 
very unsatisfactory. 


My second point is this. The present Conference 
is fully competent to take up the question of Chap- 
ter II of the Hague Convention or Chapter II of 
the American proposals. I need not dwell upon any 
of the arguments which have been brought forward. 
Some arguments were given the other day by some 
of the speakers who are more eloquent than I am, 
so I content myself by simply repeating in one 
single sentence that I consider that this Conference 
is fully competent to consider Chapter II of the 
American proposals. 


While I do not propose, in view of the lateness 
of the hour, to discuss the various points which 
have been raised by the different delegations, there 
is one point which was raised by Mr. Porter about 
which I must lose no time in saying a few words, 
in order that there may be no misunderstanding. 


THE ANTI-OPIUM MOVEMENT 109 


Mr. Porter read to you the fifth resolution of the 
fourth Assembly, in which are mentioned the meas- 
ures to be taken by China. If we all read care- 
fully the wording of that resolution, we shall see 
that it was for China herself to take the measures. 
I want that fact to be clearly understood, and I beg 
those of you who have not yet read Resolution V 
carefully to do so now. The measures were meas- 
ures to be taken by China herself, and that ques- 
tion was thoroughly discussed in the First Confer- 
ence when I gave an assurance in language which 
was as clear and definite as possible; that assurance 
was accepted by the First Conference. 


In order to prove to you that the assurance I 
gave to the First Conference has already borne 
good results and to prove that what I say is true 
as regards China, I beg to read to you a telegram 
which has been received by the Chinese people’s 
representative to the Opium Conference. Yester- 
day he handed me a telegram which he had received 
from the National Anti-Opium Association of 
Shanghai dated December 10, 1924. That telegram 
states that, according to the latest statistics, 750 
cities are now participating in the anti-opium work 
and that in this campaign there are now three 
thousand organizations with a membership of three 
million people. May I be permitted to remind you 
that, within the last month, Mr. Koo, our people’s 
representative, received another telegram giving 
statistics, and instead of seven hundred and fifty 
cities there were then only three hundred; instead 


110 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


of three thousand organizations, there were only 
two thousand at that time, and instead of three 
million people, there were then only one million 
people participating in anti-opium work. Is that 
not a miracle? 


I want to ask you if there 1s any other country 
represented in this room which is taking so active 
and so earnest a part in endeavoring to put an end 
to opium, drugs and other evils? I challenge any- 
body to say that, in their country, so much has been 
done within so short a time. Further information 
is given in the telegram to which I have just referred 
and I want to mention one more point, which is 
this: Since the result of the First Conference has 
been known in China, mass meetings have been 
held, and those mass meetings have expressed in 
clear language what they think of the results of the 
First Conference. You will be surprised to hear, 
but nevertheless it is the fact, that more space is 
given in the Chinese Press today, with the possible 
exception of the American Press, to the work of the 
Opium Conference at Geneva than is given in the 
Press of any other country. Is that not a remark- 
able fact? Although we have not so many reporters 
at this Conference as some of the other nations, I 
am proud to say that China is giving careful atten- 
tion to the work of this Conference and is watching 
it with an attention which is perhaps only surpassed 
by the United States of America. 


Mr. Porter has made an appeal to the Second 


THE ANTI-OPIUM MOVEMENT 111 


Conference, inviting it to deal with Chapter II of 
the United States suggestions. Mr. Porter, I want 
to assure you, and I want to assure other delega- 
tions who spoke in favor of the proposal, that China 
is ready to second the efforts of any delegation in 
order that the evils from which this world has been 
suffering, and from which it is suffering now, may 
be removed. My instructions are explicit—that I 
am to come here and co-operate with everybody 
and anybody whose aim is to put an end to these 
drug and opium evils. 


Mr. Porter mentioned the help that other Powers 
might give to China. China will appreciate any 
help which is really a help; but the only form of 
help which, I think, the Powers can give to China 
in this great campaign is by taking some measures 
in their own territories which will react beneficially 
on China. There is the line of action; that is the 
point. I appeal to those Powers who have partici- 
pated in the First Conference that this is the road 
to follow. 


One of the speakers today placed the members 
of the Conference more or less in two classes. One 
class he mentioned as idealists and another class as 
experts. I do not know whether he has in mind a 
third class, ‘‘indifferents.’’ I would rather any day 
be called an idealist than be an expert who will not 
help the world to put an end to this opium and 
drug evil. I would rather any day be called an 
idealist than shut my eyes to the sufferings of large 


112 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


numbers of my countrymen who are now residing 
in the territories and the possessions of European 
Powers in the Far East and who have the oppor- 
tunity of legalized opium-smoking. The number 
is not small. They are not counted by tens, by 
hundreds, by thousands, or by tens of thousands; 
they are counted by hundreds of thousands. I am 
willing any day to be called an idealist rather than 
an expert if I can help some of my poor countrymen. 


In one of the official reports presented by one of 
the delegations, it was stated that many of my un- 
fortunate countrymen had acquired the opium 
habit abroad, and that the percentage was in some 
cases as high as eighty-five. 


Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot 
blame me for being solicitous about my afflicted 
fellow-countrymen, especially when I tell you that 
the number is not counted by tens or hundreds or 
thousands or tens of thousands, but by hundreds 
of thousands. Therefore, Mr. Porter, and you, 
gentlemen, who are supporting him, I wish to say 
that I am ready, with you, to urge this Conference 
that something should be done in regard to this 
matter. Do not let technicalities block our way. 
Let us listen to and follow the demand of humanity. 
Let us have a conscience and say that something 
shall be done. 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 113 


BRITISH PROPOSAL IN THE SECOND 
CONFERENCE 


At the twenty-first meeting of the Second 
Conference, Mr. Sze made the following state- 
ment of the reasons why the Chinese delega- 
tion could not give its assent to the proposals’ 
presented to the Conference by Lord Cecil in 
behalf of the British delegation: 


1 These proposals, made at the nineteenth meeting, were: 


(1) His Majesty’s Government undertakes that opium- 
smoking shall be abolished in the British Far Eastern terri- 
tories in which such smoking is temporarily authorized, within 
a period of not more than fifteen years from the date on which 
the effective execution of the measures taken by China to sup- 
press the growth of the opium poppy has reached such a stage 
as to remove the danger of opium smuggling from China into 
those territories. 

‘*(2) As soon as it is established in the manner indicated in 
the following paragraph that the effective execution of the said 
measures has reached the stage referred to above, the neces- 
sary measures will be initiated to enable the complete prohibi- 
tion of smoking to be effective at the end of the said period. 

‘“‘(3) The question when the effective execution of the meas- 
ures mentioned in paragraph (1) has reached the stage re- 
ferred to in that paragraph shall be decided by a Commission 
to be appointed by the Council of the League of Nations, 
whose decision shall be final. 

“Then comes an explanatory paragraph: 

‘‘(4) It is understood (a) that, as soon as the period of fifteen 
years referred to in paragraph (1) has begun to run, opium- 
smoking by persons who are not smokers at that date shall 
forthwith be prohibited: (b) that the complete prohibition of 
opium-smoking to be effective by the end of the said period 
of fifteen years is not inconsistent with special and temporary 
provisions for persons in whose case it is certified by the 
medical authorities of the State concerned that they cannot 
be completely deprived of the drug without serious danger 
to life or health.” 


114 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


Mr. President and members of the Conference, 
before I address you I wish to ask your permission 
to preface what I have to say by one or two re- 
marks. 


First of all, members of the Conference, I wish: 
to assure you that I treat you all alike, whether 
you are among those who only came yesterday or 
are among those who were here at the beginning of 
the Conference, or among those with whom I had 
the pleasure of working with at the First Confer- 
ence. I treat you all alike. We are all on an equal 
footing; we are all plenipotentiaries. 


Secondly, I wish to make a remark which I had 
the honor of making in the First Conference. Re- 
marks were made here yesterday, and there have 
been others today, which refer to my country; in 
some of them the name of my country was specifi- 
cally mentioned and in others there were insinua- 
tions. 


I do not propose today for various reasons to 
take issue with regard to those remarks or to cor- 
rect them. My first reason is that the statement 
which I am about to read to you, particularly with 
reference to the subject now before us, is sufficiently 
long, and I do not wish to take up too much of your 
time by other matters. Secondly, some of the re- 
marks were so absurd, so manifestly absurd, that 
it would reflect on your intelligence if I were to take 
up your time by telling you that they are wrong. 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 115 


This is obvious from the facts of the case. There- 
fore I shall not deal with those remarks. 


I have already taken up the time of the First 
Conference on this issue, and the falsity of these 
allegations has been explained to it and no challenge 
has been made as to their disproof either by mem- 
bers of the First Conference or by anybody else. 
Since that time, no lady or gentleman, whether a 
newcomer or an old member, has pointed out to 
me that I was wrong. I shall therefore content 
myself by at once reading to you the paper that 
I have prepared. 


Mr. President and members of the Conference, 
I shall not conceal the concern that I felt when, 
four weeks ago, this Conference found itself com- 
pelled to adjourn in order to prevent a confession 
upon its part of its inability to effect the purpose 
for which it had been convened. Now that we have 
been again convened, my concern has been deep- 
ened by reason of the declarations that have been 
made by certain of the delegations, and especially 
by that of the British Empire. 


In the address that was made yesterday by Vis- 
count Cecil, the chief of the British delegation, a 
number of assertions were made, the correctness of 
which might easily be challenged; but I shall not 
now take up the time of the Conference by dealing 
with them, since I am anxious to keep our discus- 
sion above the level of disputable matters of fact, 
and to have it deal with broader and more funda- 


116 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


mental issues. When I come to deal with the spe- 
cific proposal which Viscount Cecil has made on 
behalf of his Government, I shall likewise consider 
its essential character rather than its accidental or 
specific features. | 


Before doing this, however, I wish to express 
personally and on behalf of my Government and 
people, my and their appreciation of the statement 
of His Lordship that his Government accepts with 
full confidence in their sincerity the assurances that 
the Chinese delegation has given that the Chinese 
Government will not depart from its policy of ab- 
solute prohibition of the production and consump- 
tion of opium in China save for strictly medicinal 
and scientific purposes, and that when its authority 
is again completely established throughout the 
provinces it will, as one of its first measures, take 
effective steps, to the extent of its administrative 
and executive power, to bring to an end that pro- 
duction and consumption of opium within China 
which though illegal under Chinese law, the Gov- 
ernment is now not able to suppress. 


The proposal presented by Viscount Cecil on 
behalf of the British Government is in effect a 
proposal that the obligation unqualifiedly assumed 
by the Powers in Chapter II of the Hague Conven- 
tion shall be transformed into a conditional and 
contingent one. 


These Powers, which still legalize the use of pre- 
pared opium within their several territories or pos- 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 117 


sessions, obtain their opium for this use from 
abroad. If we examine the purposes especially 
enumerated by the League of Nations, for the at- 
tainment of which we were invited to assemble at 
Geneva, it is found that one of them is ‘‘the con- 
clusion of an agreement as to the measures for giv- 
ing effective application in the Far East to Part II 
of the (Hague) Convention and as to a reduction 
of the amount of raw opium to be imported for the 
purpose of smoking in those territories where it is 
temporarily continued.” 


In the face of this admonition, contained in the 
resolutions of the Assembly, and which furnishes 
us with the official basis for our work, we are now 
asked to weaken rather than to strengthen the 
obligations which the Powers solemnly assumed 
when they signed and ratified the Hague Conven- 
tion; to avoid the execution of an obligation un- 
qualified in its terms, and in its place to assume an 
obligation the fulfilment of which is to be dependent 
upon the coming into existence of certain condi- 
tions in another country. Convened to do a cer- 
tain thing, we are asked to do the opposite. Instead 
of proposing measures which will give effective ap- 
plication to the obligations assumed by the powers 
in Chapter II of the Hague Convention, it is pro- 
posed that we shall impair and weaken those obli- 
gations. 


For these reasons, fundamental in their nature, 
and relating directly to the sanctity of international 


118 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


contracts, the Chinese delegation is constrained to 
express its dissent from the proposal which the 
delegation of the British Empire has presented. 
This opposition is thus in no wise based upon a 
fear that the Government of China will not be able, 
within the near future, to bring to an end within its 
borders the present production and consumption of 
opium, which are illegal under the Chinese law. 
On the contrary, the rapidly rising tide of anti- 
opium public opinion in China gives assurance that 
this can and will be done. What the Chinese dele- 
gation does object to—and it is convinced that the 
other delegations will also object—is that an un- 
qualified obligation shall be transmuted into a con- 
ditional or contingent one and thus authorization 
given by this Conference to a retreat from, instead 
of an advance towards, that goal which we are 
striving to reach. 


It would be difficult, if not impossible, to explain 
_ our action before the world should we take such a 
backward step. In China it would be difficult, in- 
deed I may say that it would be impossible, to 
explain and justify such action. The Chinese peo- 
ple, who fully appreciate the opium evils which now 
so unfortunately beset them, though discouraged 
by the failure upon the part of the Powers with 
Far Eastern possessions to take effective steps to 
suppress the smoking of opium by the thousands 
and hundreds of thousands of Chinese who dwell 
in these possessions, have had their hopes again 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 119 


raised by the convening of the two Conferences at 
Geneva. 


If it shall appear from the attitude taken by 
these Western Powers at this Conference that, so 
far from undertaking to take steps to bring to an 
end, within a brief or definite period of years, the 
legalized smoking of opium within their several 
possessions, it is their desire to postpone to an in- 
definite date such a suppression, my people will be 
greatly shocked. 


These Powers have repeatedly declared their de- 
sire to give China such aid as they properly can in 
order to enable her to correct the opium evils which 
now afflict her. If this aid is to be given, Mr. Presi- 
dent, it should be given now and not at some un- 
certain date. This present aid, which China eagerly 
desires, can be given in its most effective and, possi- 
bly, its only wholly acceptable form by action upon 
the part of the Powers so to control the manufac- 
ture and exportation of narcotic drugs that an end 
will be put to the contraband trade in those drugs 
and therefore to the flood of illicit morphine, heroin 
and cocaine which is now entering China and doing 
such dire damage to her people, and by action upon 
the part of the Powers which have Far Eastern 
possessions which will bring to an early termination 
the traffic in prepared opium—a traffic which espe- 
cially affects, and, in some cases, exclusively affects, 
the Chinese residents in those possessions. 


My delegation, Mr. President, has not attempted 


120 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


to deny the existence of contraband trade in ‘opium, 
some of which opium, though by no means allfoffit, 
is of Chinese origin; nor has my delegation sought 
to assert that this illicit trade has not increased the 
task of progressively reducing the illicit traffic in 
those possessions in which the use of prepared 
opium is still permitted by law. But what the 
Chinese delegation has objected to has been the 
magnification of the extent of this illicit trade, and 
the bringing forward of its existence by the Powers 
as a reason why they should be released from the 
performance of the solemn international obligation 
which they assumed when they signed or gave their 
adherence to the Hague Convention. Especially 
does the Chinese delegation object to this attempt 
to evade a contractual obligation upon this ground 
in view of the fact that the Governments concerned 
have made no serious attempt to demonstrate that 
they have themselves made every effort that is 
reasonably possible to check that contraband trade. 


But, however that may be, and it is to be ad- 
mitted that it is a matter upon which it is impos- 
sible to speak with precision, it is not proper that 
the Powers which still permit the use of prepared 
opium in their Far Eastern possessions should seek 
to excuse themselves from doing what they can to 
reduce this use within these territories because of 
unsatisfactory conditions that prevail in China. 
There has already been quoted to you the state- 
ment of Sir John Jordan, to the effect that he could 
not believe that the Powers of the West would be 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 121 


willing to shelter themselves behind the plea that 
they were absolved from performing their part of 
the obligations assumed by them under the Hague 
Convention because of disordered conditions in 
countries like China, Persia and Turkey. 


Mr. President, I do not desire today to quote to 
you and the members of the Conference too many 
passages from the Minutes of the Advisory Com- 
mittee, but in view of the fact that some members 
joined this Conference late and have not had the 
time to consult those Minutes, perhaps I might be 
permitted to quote one only. 


I am going to quote a passage from the Minutes 
of the fourth session of that Committee, page 41: 


“Sir John Jordan, replying to Mr. Campbell’s 
remarks at the previous meeting, said that he had 
no intention of criticizing the internal administra- 
tion of the opium problem in India. Mr. Campbell 
had assured the Committee once more that the 
Indian Government would never undertake the 
suppression of opium in India. The Assembly had 
sanctioned this decision, and he did not desire to 
question its wisdom. He only referred to India as 
a producing and exporting country. Turkey, Persia 
and India were the three principal producing and 
exporting countries. He hoped that both Turkey 
and Persia would be represented at the next session 
of the Committee, and he suggested that the three 
countries might come to an understanding to reduce 
proportionally their present exports of opium to the 


122 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


Far Eastern possessions of European Powers. His 
suggestion struck at the root of the whole question: 
t. @., at production. The Committee had always 
interpreted the Hague Convention in the sense that. 
that instrument placed no limitation on the pro- 
duction of raw opium, while another of its clauses 
provided for the gradual and effective suppression 
of prepared opium. India or Persia could not, 
under the terms of the Convention, export prepared 
opium, but they could export without limit raw 
opium to Ceylon, Singapore, or to any other place, 
where it was all converted into prepared opium. 
This was, in his opinion, an absurd position. There 
seemed to be a joker in the Convention pack of 
cards. For this reason, he had frequently impressed 
upon the Committee that the limitation of produc- 
tion was the only real solution. 


“Mr. Campbell has shown that there had been 
a reduction of exports to two out of seven or eight 
Far Eastern possessions. In Singapore, on the other 
hand, there had been an increase in the years 1918- 
1920. Since 1918, the consumption in the Feder- 
ated Malay States had remained constant. It was 
the same in Siam. The reduction in Hong-Kong 
was more apparent than real, since Indian opium 
had there been supplanted to some extent by Chi- 
nese opium, and Persian opium had elsewhere taken 
the place of Indian. 

“It was quite true that the Indian Government 
did not export a single ounce of opium to a country 
which did not ask for it. The Committee, however, 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 123 


must remember that the Far Eastern possessions 
of European Powers were not in the position of 
self-governing countries. They were Crown colonies 
ruled by Governments in Europe, and the responsi- 
bility for what happened attached to those Govern- 
ments. This responsibility was all the greater be- 
cause the people concerned were not nationals of the 
countries holding Far Eastern possessions, but were 
Chinese settlers who carried back the habit to 
China. 

“One thing was quite clear: whatever the amount 
of opium produced, it would all be consumed. The 
amount produced was the amount consumed, and 
unless production was reduced the problem would 
never be solved. His opinion was based on experi- 
ence. He had dealt with the problem in China for 
ten years from 1907-1917. In China, during that 
period, the question had been attacked from the 
standpoint of production. Consumption had been 
considered a secondary question. ~The Committee 
had reversed this procedure. For ten years produc- 
tion was gradually reduced in China, and had been, 
in the end, practically suppressed. Despite the 
present very disturbed state in China, most of the 
reform which had been accomplished by 1917 still 
remained. The International Opium Association at 
Peking went so far as to say nine-tenths of it. In 
his own opinion, at least three-quarters of it re- 
mained. The reduction, therefore, in China was 
far greater in proportion than the reduction in the 
Eastern possessions of other Powers, and that meant 


124 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


that the overseas Chinese—that was, the Chinese 
living under Western rule—were in a far worse 
position as regards opium than the Chinese living 
in their own country. This was not to the credit 
of the Western countries concerned.” 


Such are the words of Sir John Jordan. 


So much for the plea of confession and avoidance 
which the British delegation has presented. 


The United States delegation, as you have heard, 
has sought to meet, as far as possible, the wishes of 
the Governments of the Powers with Far Eastern 
possessions by agreeing to modify its original pro- 
posal! to the extent of extending from ten to fifteen 
years the period during which those Powers are to 
bring about that effective suppression of the legal- 
ized use of prepared opium which is promised in the 
Hague Convention. To such a liberal proposition 
as this there would seem to be no reasonable ground 
for objection, and I urge, in the most solemn man- 
ner, that it be accepted. The possible consequences 


1 The original American proposal ran: 


‘“‘Each Contracting Party in whose territory the use of pre- 
pared opium is now temporarily permitted agrees to reduce 
its imports of raw opium for the purpose of making prepared 
opium by 10 per cent of its present importation each year 
for a period of ten years beginning with the date of ratification 
of this Convention by it, and further agrees not to supplement 
the reduction by domestically produced opium; and further 
agrees that at the end of such period of ten years it will prohibit 
the importation of raw opium for the purpose of making pre- 
pared opium. By ‘present importation’ is understood the im- 
portation during the twelve months immediately preceding 
the date the Contracting Party ratifies this Convention.” 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 125 


of a rejection of it will be most serious in character, 
and of these possible consequences I feel constrained 
to speak. 


The general problem with which this Conference 
has to deal would be one of great importance even 
if it were regarded simply as a matter of securing 
a more effective regulation of the traffic in narcotic 
drugs and the control of the production of the raw 
material out of which these drugs are manufac- 
tured. But, when viewed in its larger aspects, the 
problem is seen to be a far greater one, for, by 
necessity, it involves the great question whether 
the Governments of the world have reached that 
degree of enlightenment and that stage of ethical 
development which enable them to determine their 
policy by principles of justice and right, and which 
dispose them to sacrifice immediate and sordid 
interests in order that the ultimate welfare of hu- 
manity may be secured. 


Co-operation between sovereign Powers is possi- 
ble only when these Powers are willing to sacrifice 
their own selfish interests in order that some larger 
and more general good may be achieved. The re- 
sults reached by this Conference will show whether 
this stage of internationalism has been reached. 
There have been other Conferences assembled at 
the invitation and under the auspices of the League 
of Nations, but, in one respect, the one in which 
we are now gathered exceeds in significance those 
that have preceded it. This special significance is 


126 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


due to the fact that we have to deal with a problem 
which is’ essentially a moral one. It has political 
implications only in so far as the confidence in the 
good-will of Governments will be judged by what 
they do here; it has economic or financial aspects 
only in so far as there are vested interests which 
will profit by a continuance of the evil which this 
Conference has been convened to abolish. 


It is not necessary for me to speak of the moral 
aspects of our problem. They speak for themselves. 
It is upon some other broader aspects of it that I 
wish, for a moment, to dwell. 


Of one thing we may be sure, and that is, that, 
should we fail in the task that has been assigned 
to us, those Powers which, by their refusal to subor- 
dinate materialistic and sordid considerations to 
ethical obligations, compel this failure will be held 
responsible by the other nations of the world. They 
will be regarded as nations which have not yet 
moralized their public policies. They will, there- 
fore, have to pay a heavy price for whatever im- 
mediate or materialistic interests they manage to 
conserve to themselves, and it is not unlikely that 
this price will be measured not only in terms of 
moral prestige but also in terms of those very finan- 
cial and economic interests upon which they will 
have shown that they set such store. 


As to these possibilities, in so far as they relate 
to the future relations between the four hundred 
millions of Chinese and the Western Powers that 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 127 


possess territories in the Far East, I am, perhaps, 
as myself a Chinese, in a better position to speak 
than most of you, and, therefore, to these possi- 
bilities I feel myself justified in calling your at- 
tention. 


Among the features which have specially char- 
acterized traditional Chinese thought and civiliza- 
tion, two have stood out with especial clearness. 
One of these has been the emphasis that has been 
laid upon the moral aspects of life. Until recently, 
indeed, almost the whole purpose of the Chinese 
educational system was the inculcation of the ethi- 
cal duties of man. The other feature has been the 
extent to which the Chinese people have relied upon 
reason rather than upon force, with the result that 
the Chinese Government, even when nominally 
autocratic, has depended, in order to obtain obedi- 
ence to its laws, rather upon persuasion than upon 
compulsion, and, therefore, has promulgated its 
laws in hortatory rather than mandatory form. 


I speak of these matters because they have be- 
come ingrained in the Chinese people, and, there- 
fore, should they become convinced that certain of 
the Western Powers are not disposed to have regard 
for the moral and physical welfare of the hundreds 
of thousands of their fellow-countrymen dwelling 
within their Far Eastern possessions, and do in fact 
unjustly discriminate between them and their own 
subjects or citizens, they, the Chinese in China, will 
be moved by a profound moral indignation. 


128 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


Instances of the results to trade and commerce, 
not to speak of other less material but more impor- 
tant consequences that have followed within recent 
years from a sense upon the part of the Chinese 
people of right outraged will occur to you all. They 
indicate to you what may result should my people 
find that certain of the Western Powers are deter- 
mined to continue to derive large public revenues 
from the sale of prepared opium to Chinese living 
in their Far Eastern possessions, or from the expor- 
tation to those possessions of the raw opium from 
which the prepared opium is to be manufactured. 


I do not wish to dwell too much upon the eco- 
nomic or commercial consequences that may possi- 
bly result from the action that the Powers may take 
in this Conference, but it is a phase of our problem 
that cannot be wholly ignored. The significance of 
the trade of China to the other trading nations of 
the world needs no emphasis by me. Only a few 
days ago in the London 7imes of January 3, 1925, 
there appeared a message from its own Peking 
correspondent in which it was pointed out that, 
although the year just ended had been, for China, 
one of the most troublous in her history, the cus- 
toms duties collected had exceeded, by over six 
million taels, all previous records, and that the 
total duties collected had represented a foreign 
trade of more than two hundred million* pounds, of 
which something like forty per cent hadi been 
British. 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 129 


The recent strikes of sailors and workmen in 
Hong-Kong and Shameen show that Chinese labor- 
ers are rapidly grouping themselves into effective 
unions, and thus are able, upon occasion, to assert 
an influence that cannot be lightly regarded. I 
would also recall to your memory the evidence con- 
tained in the address made to the Conference by 
Mr. T. Z. Koo, and in other communications to 
which I have had occasion to refer, as to the 
enormous interest that the Chinese people are tak- 
ing in the whole opium question, and the anxiety 
with which they are watching the procedure of this 
Conference. This means that if they feel that they 
have cause for indignation at the position taken by 
any of the Powers in this Conference, that indigna- 
tion may lead to popular movements which the 
authorities might find it difficult to counteract, 
much as they might desire to do so, and which will 
have an influence upon the trade of the countries 
concerned, and also upon the free flow of laborers 
to the Far Eastern possessions of the European 
Powers. 


I gladly leave, however, these materialistic im- 
plications of our problem and turn to a phase of it 
which, because more cultural or spiritual in char- 
acter, is of still greater importance. This aspect of 
the question has to do with the future relations of 
the Eastern and Western peoples. 


For many years past, the peoples of the West 
have proceeded upon the conviction that their 


130 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


civilization, and especially their religions and their 
codes of morality founded upon them, are superior 
to the systems of thought and conduct of the East. 
Based upon this assumption, the peoples of the 
West, encouraged and supported in many instances 
by their Governments, have sought by educational 
propaganda and missionary effort to persuade the 
Orientals to accept the Western ideas and ideals in 
place of those of their own. 


I shall not attempt to discuss how far this con- 
viction upon the part of the Western peoples has 
had a firm foundation of fact, but this much can 
certainly be said, that, whatever be the opinion 
held upon these points, to the Oriental as to. the 
Occidental, a principle of right and justice must, 
from its very nature, be as valid when applied in 
the East as when applied in the West. Hence it 
must result that if, when put to the practical test, 
it be found that Western Powers, which claim to 
enjoy the benefits of Western civilization, as car- 
ried to its highest point of development, are deter- 
mined to continue indefinitely in their Far Eastern 
possessions a traffic which admittedly debauches 
the hundreds of thousands of Chinese who dwell 
in their possessions, there can be no other result 
than that not only will Western systems of ethics 
be deprived of much of the respect which they com- 
mand from the peoples of the East, but the Gov- 
ernments of the West will lose somewhat the regard 
which they now enjoy in Eastern Asia. By this I 


BRITISH PROPOSAL 131 


mean that it will henceforth be more difficult for 
them to convince the Powers of the East of the 
sincerity of their professions of good-will. 


It may be thought by some of you that I have 
unduly trespassed upon your time by speaking at 
such length. But I ask you to believe that I have 
been moved by a strong conviction of the profound 
importance of the matters which I have brought to 
your attention. Having this conviction, I have 
felt that I could not do otherwise than I have done 
in urging that the problem with which we are at- 
tempting to deal should be considered not only in 
its immediate and obvious aspects, but also in its 
broader and ultimate implications. 


For these reasons, I earnestly appeal to my col- 
leagues to agree to refer the American proposal 
without further hesitation to a special Sub-Com- 
mittee for discussion and action, and subsequent 
report of its conclusions to this Conference. (Ap- 
plause.) 


1382 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


INDIAN HEMP 


At the sixteenth plenary meeting of the 
Second Conference, Mr. Sze expressed the 
approval of the Chinese delegation of the 
proposition, presented by the Egyptian dele- 
gation, that the Conference should authorize 
all possible steps to check the illegitimate use 
of hashish. 


1 The proposals of the Egyptian delegation ran: 


“It should henceforward be understood that all known nar- 
cotic substances, not at present classified as dangerous drugs, 
but nevertheless capable of being regarded as such, together 
with any other narcotic drug which may be discovered or 
manufactured in future, should automatically come under the 
provisions of the Convention which we desire to conclude. 


“1, That hashish be included in the list of dangerous drugs 
with which we are to deal. 


“2. That the Powers signatory of the Convention impose 
penalties for offenses against the provisions of the Convention 
to be concluded by this Conference, or at least they should 
mention in the Convention that the penalty will not be less 
than that provided for misdemeanors. 


“3. That it is desirable that the import and export permits 
referred to in the Convention should be drawn up in such a 
way as to make it difficult for contraband dealers to forge 
them.” 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 133 


CHAPTER IV OF THE HAGUE OPIUM 
CONVENTION: CHINA AND THE 
TREATY POWERS 


Karly in the Second Conference, Mr. Sze 
presented the following memorandum and 
proposals as to the action to be taken by the 
Powers for giving effective application to the 
undertakings embodied in Chapter IV of the 
Hague Opium Convention: 


Above other nations, China is suffering by reason 
of the illicit trade in narcotic drugs. Besides the 
debasing effects of these drugs upon her people, 
there is the further circumstance that their wide- 
spread use enters as a discouraging element in the 
effort which the Government and the people are 
making to suppress the production and consump- 
tion of prepared opium which are illegal under Chi- 
nese law. It is, therefore, of special concern to 
China that the Governments of the countries where 
these drugs are manufactured should adopt com- 
mon and effective regulations regarding their manu- 
facture, export, re-export, trans-shipment, and 
transit with the view of confining traffic in them 
to their strictly medicinal and scientific uses. 


China, which manufactures none of these drugs, 
will, upon her part, doall that is within her govern- 
mental power to control their importation into 
China, their trans-shipment and re-exportation, 


134 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


and will thus, in every possible way, co-operate with 
the other Powers in their efforts to solve the world- 
problem of confining the traffic in these drugs to 
strictly scientific and medical purposes. 


And, as regards the trade in, and the use of, these 
drugs within China, the Government of China will 
use all its powers, legislative and administrative, to 
prevent their use for other than the purposes which 
science and medicine approve. In most countries 
this is a task the performance of which is not 
directly dependent upon the co-operation of other 
Governments, but, in China, by reason of the 
existence of the extra-territorial rights of the na- 
tionals of a number of the other Powers, as well, 
also, as by reason of the existence within China of 
areas within which some of the Treaty Powers are 
permitted to exercise certain administrative powers, 
it is necessary that the Government of China should 
obtain the hearty co-operation of these Powers in 
order that it may efficiently control the narcotic 
problem. 


For the control of her own citizens over whom 
she has full administrative jurisdiction, the Chinese 
Government has enacted comprehensive and strin- 
gent laws which it enforces to the extent of its 
powers, but with regard to those of her citizens 
who live within the above-mentioned areas, as well 
with regard to the nationals of those Powers within 
these areas, and the nationals outside these areas 
who enjoy extra-territorial privileges, China is 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 135 


largely, if not wholly, dependent upon the co- 
operation of the Powers for the effective control 
of the use of narcotics. This fact is recognized in 
Chapter IV of the Hague Convention of 1912 
which provides for harmonious and co-operative 
action between the Signatory Powers and China. 


China has sought loyally to fulfill the obligations 
thus assumed by her, but she has thus far failed 
to receive full co-operation upon the part of the 
Powers as regards the action required to be taken 
under Article 16; namely, that diplomatic repre- 
sentatives of those Powers at Peking should exam- 
ine the pharmacy laws regulating the sale and dis- 
tribution of morphine, cocaine, their respective 
salts and other substances referred to in Article 14 
of the Convention, enacted by the Chinese Govern- 
ment and communicated to them, with a view, if 
found acceptable, to applying them to their own 
nationals residing in China. And, furthermore, the 
Chinese delegation is constrained to say with refer- 
ence to the laws of some of the Powers, for the con- 
trol of their own nationals in China, that the penal- 
ties they impose seem scarcely severe enough eff- 
cently to attain the purposes for which they have 
been enacted, nor are they, in all’ cases, vigorously 
and uniformly enforced by the officials of the 
Powers concerned. This observation applies also 
to laws for the punishment of smuggling of opium 
and narcotic drugs into China. 


Therefore, in order that the present unsatisfac- 


1386 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


tory conditions may be corrected, the Chinese dele- 
gation requests that, in substance, the following 
provisions be included in the Convention which, it 
is to be hoped, will result from the labors of this 
Conference. 


1. That the existing laws and regulations and 
administrative processes of the Signatory Powers 
shall be so strengthened and perfected as to prevent 
the exportation, importation, trans-shipment, trans- 
it and re-exportation of opium, except as provided 
for in Chapter II of the Hague Convention of 1912, 
and of morphine, heroin, cocaine and other nar- 
cotic drugs except in amounts needed for strictly 
medicinal and scientific purposes. 


2. That prompt examination of, and action not 
later than April 1, 1925, with regard to the applica- 
tion to their own nationals of the pharmacy laws 
of the Chinese Republic regulating the sale, posses- 
sion, and distribution of narcotic drugs shall be 
made by the Powers enjoying extra-territorial rights 
in China, as provided for in Article 15 of the Hague 
Convention. 


3. That the Powers which enjoy extra-territorial 
rights in China shall either apply Chinese laws to 
their nationals for contraventions against Chinese 
laws prohibiting the cultivation, sale, transport or 
trade in opium and other narcotics, or enact ade- 
quate laws regulating these matters which shall 
provide that the violation of these laws by their na- 
tionals shall be punishable by fines whose amounts 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 1387 


shall be multiples of the values at the places where 
the offenses are committed of the drugs concerned 
and, in addition, by terms of imprisonment, and, 
at the expiration of such terms, deportation of the 
party or parties concerned from China and pro- 
hibition thereafter to return to China. 


4. That the Powers enjoying extra-territorial 
rights in China shall either apply to their own na- 
tionals in China the laws of China with regard to 
the smuggling or attempted smuggling into China 
of opium or narcotic drugs, or strengthen their own 
laws by attaching to them penalties for their viola- 
tion which shall include fines the amounts of which 
shall be multiples of the values of the opium or 
drugs concerned, together with terms of imprison- 
ment, at the expiration of which terms the party 
or parties shall be deported from China and for- 
bidden thereafter to return to China. 


Reciprocally, China will adopt measures to pre- 
vent the smuggling out of China by her own na- 
tionals of opium or narcotic drugs into the terri- 
tories and possessions of the Contracting Parties. 


5. That, if the smuggling of opium or the afore- 
said drugs into China or their sale in China or their 
attempted smuggling or sale, is by or with the con- 
nivance of the officers of a ship, the ship also shall 
be subject to a fine equal in amount to a multiple 
of the local value of the goods smuggled or sold or 
sought to be smuggled or sold. 


138 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


6. That the trial of foreign nationals who enjoy 
extra-territorial rights in China for offenses referred 
to in the preceding paragraphs shall be in open 
court, and that, at such trials, Chinese assessors 
may be present. 


November 24, 1924. 

At the fourth meeting of the Second Gen- 
eral Committee, in explanation and support 
of the proposals in the foregoing memoran- 
dum, Mr. Sze said: 


-I do not propose to detain you for more than a 
minute or two, but I wish to offer a word of explana- 
tion. I have heard it whispered that there has been 
some misapprehension regarding the few simple 
proposals I have laid before you. I have been told 
I was going to raise the question of extra-terri- 
toriality. Let me say at once that there is no such 
intention in my mind, although I have always felt, 
and still feel, that the extra-territoriality imposed 
on China is unjust and unfair and should be re- 
moved as soon as possible. I do not, however, pro- 
pose to raise that question here. 


The second proposal which I have made only 
asks the Powers signatories of the Hague Conven- 
tion of 1912 and having extra-territorial rights in 
China to carry out their side of the pledge given 
faithfully in 1912. In the other proposals I do not 
raise the question of extra-territoriality at all. I 
simply ask you——-and everyone knows that some- 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 139 


thing must be done—to tighten up the regime for 
the prevention of smuggling, not only in the in- 
terests of China but in your own interests and in 
the interests of humanity; for smuggling must be 
checked, and stopped if possible. I ask you, there- 
fore, either to adopt the Chinese laws on these 
questions or, if you find that inconvenient, to 
strengthen your own laws. 


I do not insist that you adopt the Chinese sug- 
gestion—that is to say: that the Powers having ex- 
tra-territorial rights should do so. Ladies and gen- 
tlemen, I beg you to examine very carefully the 
proposals I have put before you and in which I 
have not raised the question of extra-territoriality. 


As some of you know from the pamphlets which 
have been circulated by the United States of 
America, there are treaties in existence between 
China and the United States of America, and you 
will have seen that the United States, as far back 
as 1844, conceded to China rights much fuller than 
anything in the proposals which I have put before 
you. Sol am not asking you to make any sacrifice 
at all. But I do ask you, for your own protection 
and for the protection of humanity, apart from 
carrying out the Hague Convention, that some- 
thing should be done, and done on those lines. I 
hope I have made it clear—and I will emphasize 
that fact once more before I sit down—that I do 
not raise the question of extra-territoriality, bad 


140 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


as that question is, but I simply ask you to do 
something which you pledged yourselves to do as 
long ago as 1912. 


Later on at the same meeting, he said: 


While I appreciate the statement made by the 
distinguished delegate of the British Empire, he 
will perhaps allow me to point out that he has so 
far only approached my proposal from one end. 
There are certain things to which Great Britain is 
also a party and regarding which she has not acted 
promptly. I have in mind particularly the phar- 
macy laws—my second proposal—which, under the 
Hague Convention, China had to submit to those 
Powers having extra-territorial rights and which 
they were to agree to and adopt. 


The Chinese Government communicated those 
pharmacy laws to the Diplomatic Body on March 
1, 1923, and, at the end of one year and five months 
had no answer. So it asked the Diplomatic Body 
repeatedly how long it would take to examine those 
laws, and on August 8, 1924, it had not yet received 
an answer. 


From March 1, 1923, till August 8, 1924, is 
a long time, even making full allowance for the 
distance from China to Europe or to America. 
While appreciating Sir Malcolm Delevingne’s state- 
ment of the readiness of Great Britain to meet 
China, I must be permitted to point out that, so 
far, Great Britain has only met us from certain 
angles and not from all angles. 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 141 


As to the interesting proposal made by Sir Mal- 
colm Delevingne, I have no objection to make if 
you appoint a special Sub-Committee to discuss the 
matter or if you refer it to any particular Sub- 
Committee or to this Committee; but, as I said 
in the First Conference, I am a practical man, and 
I want to see results, and to see results quickly. If, 
however, it is the wish of this Conference to appoint 
a Sub-Committee, may I request that that Sub- 
Committee should not be limited to the seven or 
eight Powers which are specially interested in re- 
gard to extra-territorial rights. Others are equally 
interested, because whatever is decided on the 
question of the suppression of smuggling in China 
will react on other countries. Therefore I would 
request, in the event of this Conference deciding to 
appoint a Sub-Committee, that that Sub-Commit- 
tee should be fortified by having the advantage of 
neutral opinions, so that the interests of those most 
nearly concerned should not dominate. We want 
to have impartial opinions. 

Now, Mr. President and members of the Con- 
ference, there is nothing extraordinary in this re- 
quest, because, as we have seen, we have in Sub- 
Committee A, for instance, members representing 
manufacturing countries and we have also the 
benefit of the presence of members representing the 
consuming countries, so that, whatever decision 
may be reached, it will not be too much influenced 
by the views of those who are interested in the mat- 
ter, but the opinion of those who are neutral will 
also be available. 


142 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


I am very much obliged to Sir Malcolm Dele- 
vingne for his information regarding the British 
Government’s action with reference to China’s 
pharmacy laws. I wish the British Government 
had seen fit to notify the Chinese Government to 
that effect in due time. But the point I raised was 
the inaction on the part of the Powers. Notwith- 
standing Sir Malcolm Delevingne’s reply, nobody 
can deny the fact that there has been inaction on 
the part of the Powers towards China. 


Now as to the reference of my proposals to a 
Sub-Committee, or to this Committee, I leave that 
question entirely in the hands of the President and 
of the Conference. All I want is that something 
should be done. I must say that I do not propose 
to go out of my way to attack any people in the 
Sub-Committee or this Committee with regard to 
the wrongs they have done China, because it is disa- 
greeable to me, and they are too well known. 


I have purposely avoided doing so—though 
everybody knows that China has been very badly 
treated by some Powers at least—because it is 
disagreeable to me. 


I can state China’s policy in two or three words. 
China’s policy is friendship to all and enmity 
towards none. My sole idea is to show the Powers 
that it is not only in the interests of China but in 
their own interests and in the interests of the world 
that they should honor their word, the promises 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 148 


they have given to China. I am not proposing to 
throw mud at anybody, because that does not do 
any good. I propose to look forward and not 
backward. With this assurance I have no doubt 
the members of this Conference will see the justice 
of my cause and will try to meet me. I am not 
asking any of the delegations to make any sacrifice 
for the sake of China; I am asking them to do an 
act of justice. I ask them to fulfill something that 
they are pledged to do. 


A smaller Committee of the Conference of 
the interested Powers having been created 
for the consideration of the proposals regard- 
ing Chapter IV of the Hague Convention of 
1912, the Chinese delegation circularized to 
the members’ of that Committee the following 
revised draft of its proposals: 


The Chinese delegation asks of the Powers par- 
ticipating here, which have ext‘a-territorial rights 
in China, the following action: 


I. That the Powers will give prompt considera- 
tion to the matter of applying to their nationals in 
China the Pharmacy Laws of the Chinese Republic, 
if such Laws be found acceptable, and, in particu- 
lar, the Regulation for the Regist-ation of Chinese 
and Foreign Pharmacies as stated '‘n the Memoran- 


1Great Britain, France, Japan, Unitel States, Portugal, 
Spain, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland. 


144. THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


dum of the Chinese Government submitted to the 
Advisory Committee of the League of Nations on 
Traffic in Opium and Other Narcotics on August 
2, 1924, and published as Annex 4 to the Minutes 
of the Sixth Session of said Advisory Committee. 
And that, at the latest, decision as to the foregoing 
shall be given before January 1, 1926. 


II. That the Powers will take any and all such 
action as will permit the Republic of China to 
apply, to the extent needed, the system of export 
and import certificates as recommended by the 
League of Nations or any similar system adopted 
by any of the Signatory Powers and China. 


III. That the Powers will issue instructions to 
their nationals, pharmacies, hospitals, and other 
establishments or companies in the Republic of 
China to furnish to the Chinese Government such 
statistics and other information as to opium and 
narcotic or habit-forming drugs imported by them 
into China or sold, used, or held in stock by them 
in China as will zid the Chinese Government in 
determining its per capita medicinal and scientific 
needs for opium and the aforesaid drugs. 


IV. That the Powers will make every possible 
effort to cause their several laws and regulations 
regarding the smuggling of opium and narcotic or 
habit-forming drugs into China and the illegal 
possession, transportation, sale, dispensing and use 
of opium and the aforesaid drugs in China to be 
uniform in charicter, and especially as to the penal- 
ties imposable for violation of them. 


| 


CHINA AND TREATY POWERS 145 


V. That the Powers will provide that the penal- 
ties imposable for violations of the laws and regu- 
lations referred to in Paragraph IV of this Agree- 
ment shall be of sufficient severity to have a highly 
deterrent effect, and that, in any case, when one 
is convicted of second offense thereunder, he or she 
shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and, 
at the expiration of such term, if he or she is in 
China, deported therefrom and forbidden under 
heavy penalties to return thereto. 


VI. That the Powers will make provision for the 
public trial of all persons accused of violating the 
aforesaid laws and regulations. 


146 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


CHINA’S MINIMUM DEMAND STATED 


At the twenty-third meeting of the Second 
Conference when there was before it a pro- 
posal for an adjournment presented by M. 
Sjostrand, of the delegation of Sweden, Mr. 
Sze said: 


I rise with all seriousness to say a few words with 
reference to the proposal submitted to the Confer-— 
ence by the distinguished delegate of Sweden. This 
is not the first time that I have had the honor of ad- 
dressing the Conference on the desirability or neces- 
sity or wisdom of an adjournment. When the last 
adjournment was proposed, before the Christmas 
vacation, it was with much concern, as I told you 
yesterday, that I gave my assent. It is with no less 
concern that I rise today to give my assent; I hope 
that this adjournment, though only for a space of 
two days, will bring us results acceptable to all, 
results upon which we may look with pride and 
admiration. 


In giving my assent to the proposal that there 
should be an adjournment in order to afford an 
opportunity for a possible harmonizing of the sev- 
eral proposals or suggestions that have been made 
regarding the control of the traffic in prepared 
opium, it is apprepriate that I should say that any 
proposal that may be presented to this Conference, 
in order to be acceptable to my country, will have 
to be one that gives definite assurances that within 


| 


| 
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MINIMUM DEMAND STATED 147 


a reasonable period of time, the termination of 
which can be clearly foreseen, the legalized traffic 
in prepared opium in those territories and posses- 
sions where it is now temporarily permitted by law 
will be brought to an end. It is my duty, in giving 
my assent to the new proposal of adjournment, to 
state my position clearly. 


148 THE SECOND. CONFERENCE 


FINAL APPEAL TO THE SECOND 
CONFERENCE 


At the fourth and final meeting of the Com- 
mittee of Sixteen which had been appointed 
to devise, if possible, some means of overcom- 
ing the differences of opinions and policies 
regarding the matter of the effective suppres- 
sion of the traffic in and consumption of pre- 
pared opium, Mr. Sze made the following 
‘‘FWinal Appeal’’ to those delegations which 
had declared their unwillingness to agree to 
measures that would bring to an early end the 
legalized smoking of opium within their 
respective territories or possessions: 


It is with great regret that I hear from the 
report made by the Rapporteur of the Sub-Com- 
mittee of Five that no agreement has been reached 
by that Sub-Committee in the course of the last 
two or three days. Although the hour may be late, 
although it is nearly twelve, I am inclined to think 
that the clock has not yet struck, and I hope that 
my fellow-delegates will pardon me for my insist- 
ence in making another appeal that something may 
be done for humanity, because it is agreed by all 
of us that the practice of opium-smoking is dele- 
terious to health and degrading socially and mor- 
ally. If that is the fact, why should we not make 
another effort? 


FINAL APPEAL 149 


I have referred recently to the effects upon the 
world of what we do or fail to do here, and I dwelt 
at some length upon the effects in the Far East and 
in particular upon my people. For this reason, I 
hope the members of the Conference will permit 
me to make another appeal to those delegations 
which cannot accept the United States suggestions, 
and particularly I make my appeal to the distin- 
guished member of the British delegation, Lord 
Cecil. 


His Lordship has stated on a previous occasion 
that it is the practice of the British Government to 
attach very great weight to the opinions of its 
colonial authorities as to the policies to be adopted 
in the colonies or possessions where such officials are 
stationed. He took occasion to laud not only their 
practical wisdom but their disinterestedness. As to 
this, I must qualify my assent. By this I do not 
mean to assert that these officials are disposed de- 
liberately, and from selfish motives, to give advice 
other than that which their judgment and con- 
science approve; but I do say that experience has 
again and again shown that officials are, as a rule, 
disposed to oppose changes in the systems of con- 
trol and in the policies to which they have been 
accustomed, or, what amounts to the same thing, 
to defend the status quo. 

As a single but striking evidence of this, I would 
draw the attention of Lord Cecil and of his advisers 
to the fact that, at the time when the abolition of 
human slavery in the British West Indies was being 


150 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


urged, it was practically the unanimous opinion of 
the British officials in those islands that slavery was 
justifiable and that it would be a mistake to at- 
tempt to do away with it. 


It may be of interest to the British delegation, 
as well as to the other delegations which, upon the 
advice of their colonial officials, deem it imprac- 
ticable to take immediate steps to suppress that 
form of slavery which is due to addiction to the 
use of prepared opium, to recall what Gladstone 
upon one occasion said in the House of Commons: 
“T do not think,” he declared, ‘‘that in this matter 
we ought to be guided exclusively, perhaps even 
principally, by those who may consider themselves 
great experts. It is a very sad thing to say, but 
unquestionably it happens not infrequently in hu- 
man affairs that those who ought from their situa- 
tion to know the most and the best yet from preju- 
dice and prepossessions know the least and the 
worst. Eminently it was the case in the grest ques- 
tion of the West Indian slavery, when this House 
and the country for a long time were discouraged 
and abashed by the assurance that those who were 
in favor of that great and radical change were in 
favor of it only because they did not understand 
the negro character. I certainly, for ny part, do 
not propose to abide finally and decisively by 
official opinion.” 

In the First Opium Conference, the Chinese dele- 
gation made every possible effort to have the par- 
ticipating Powers agree to adopt measures which 


FINAL APPEAL 151 


would, by their necessary operation, if strictly ad- 
ministered, lead to an early end the legalized use of 
prepared opium within their several jurisdictions 
These obligations the Powers refused to assume. 
In this Second Conference, there is given to these 
Powers an opportunity to reconsider their refusal. 


That great official, Sir Robert Hart, dealing with 
another matter, once used words which have ap- 
plication to the problem with which we have to 
deal. As to the treatment to be accorded to the 
Chinese, he said: ‘“‘Respect and not contempt; con- 
ciliation and not dictation; appreciation and not 
differential treatment—try this prescription, and 
you will have a healthy body politic. And until 
this is done, it will be the reverse.” 

I beg the Powers under whose jurisdiction large 
numbers of Chinese dwell to bear these words in 
mind. These Powers now stand at the parting of 
the ways. It is for them to determine whether they 
will show a due regard for the interest of these 
people, upon whose labor, as they themselves con- 
fess, their economic and commercial prosperity so 
largely depends, and thus gain the gratitude of the 
millions of Chinese living in China; or whether 
they will show themselves regardless of the moral 
and physical welfare of these, their wards, and thus 
render themselves liable to the charge that they 
have not that respect for the welfare of the Chinese 
which they have for their own people—that they 
have one law of ethical obligation for the West and 
another for the East. 


152 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


WITHDRAWAL OF THE CHINESE 
DELEGATION FROM THE 
SECOND CONFERENCE 


At the twenty-sixth meeting of the Second 
Conference there were presented the follow- 
ing letter and memorandum from the Chinese 
delegation: 


February 7, 1925. 


His ExcELLENCY M. HERLUF ZAHLE, 


President, Second Opium Conference, 
League of Nations, Geneva. 


Dear Mr. President: 


I have the honor to inform you that, for reasons 
given in the Memorandum herein enclosed, the Chi- 
nese delegation is convinced that its further par- 
ticipation in the Second Opium Conference will 
serve no useful purpose. May I ask that this 
Memorandum be communicated to the Confer- 
ence? 


It is with profound regret that my delegation 
has felt constrained to take up this position, but, 
in view of the failure of the Conference to arrive 
at any satisfactory agreement with regard to the 
measures to be taken for the suppression of the 
use of prepared opium, it has felt that no other 
course is open to it. 


WITHDRAWAL OF DELEGATION 153 


Permit me to avail myself of this opportunity, 
on behalf of my delegation, to assure you and the 
members of the Conference and the members of 
the Secretariat of the League of Nations of our ap- 
preciation of, and thanks for, the courtesies shown 
to us. 


(Signed) Sao-KE ALFRED SZE. 


154 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


MEMORANDUM 


At the twenty-third meeting of the Conference, 
at the time when an adjournment of this body was 
moved in order that opportunity might be given 
to find, if possible, some means of elucidating and 
co-ordinating the various proposals, declarations, 
and suggestions that had been made by different 
delegations with reference to the measures to be 
agreed upon by the Powers here represented for the 
progressive suppression of the use of prepared opi- 
um in those territories and possessions in which 
such use is still permitted by law, the Chinese 
delegation had the honor to say that, in giving its 
assent to the motion, no proposal which might be 
presented to the Conference would be acceptable 
to China which did not give definite assurance that, 
within a reasonable period of time, the termination 
of which could be clearly foreseen, the legalized 
traffic in prepared opium would be brought to an 
end. 


It is now apparent from the formal proposals 
that have been made by the delegations of Great 
Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal, 
and insisted upon in the Committee of Sixteen and 
the Sub-Committee of Five of that Committee, 
that the Governments they represent are not, at 
this time, prepared to agree to adopt measures 
which will meet the desires of the Chinese Govern- 
ment as thus stated. 


WITHDRAWAL OF DELEGATION 155 


It is the sincere hope of China that, in the near 
future, the policies of these Governments will have 
so altered that they can see their way to the com- 
mon adoption of measures that will lead to the 
early and total suppression of that legalized traffic 
which is now bringing such misery and moral degra- 
dation to the hundreds of thousands of the citizens 
of China living within their respective territories 
and possessions. When that time comes, the Gov- 
ernment and the people of China will be glad to 
co-operate to the extent of their ability. 


The present conditions in China, which, unfor- 
tunately, have made it impossible for the Govern- 
ment of China to obtain effective enforcement of 
its policy of prohibiting the production of opium 
and its use for other than medicinal and scientific 
purposes, are temporary in character. The Govern- 
ment of China gives the assurance that it will not 
depart from this policy with regard to opium, and 
that it will, at all times, exert all the executive and 
administrative power possessed by it to enforce 
that policy. This the Government of China now 
does, and will continue to do, independently and 
without regard to the action of other Powers. It 
is the hope of the Government and the people of 
China that, reciprocally with their independent 
effort to suppress the production and control the 
use of opium within the borders of China, the other 
Powers will, on their part, make every effort to 
prevent illegal traffic in opium and narcotic drugs 


156 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


and progressively to suppress the legalized use of 
prepared opium. 


Inasmuch as it appears that those Powers within 
whose territories or possessions the use of prepared 
opium is still permitted by law are not prepared to 
agree to the inclusion, within the Convention to be 
adopted by this Conference, of any undertakings 
whatsoever regarding the progressive suppression 
of such use, and inasmuch as it is the opinion of the 
Chinese delegation that the adoption of such under- 
takings is essential in order fully to effect the pur- 
poses which, as declared in Resolution VI of the 
Fourth Assembly of the League of Nations, this 
Conference was assembled to achieve, the Chinese 
delegation deems no good purpose will be served 
by its further continuance in the Conference, and 
it is therefore constrained to cease its participa- 
tion therein. 


ANNEXES 157 
ANNEXES TO PART II 


ANNEX I 


The Secretary-General of the Conference 
was instructed by the President to circu- 
late the following letter from Mr. T. Z. Koo, 
representative of the National Anti-Opium 
Association : 


4 Chemin du Square, Geneva. 
December 11, 1924. 


His EXCELLENCY HERLUF ZAHLE, 
President of the Second Opium Conference, 
Geneva. 


Your Excellency: 


This letter which deals with a matter of great 
concern to the Chinese people is addressed to you 
with the request that it be circulated to the mem- 
bers of the Second Opium Conference. I take this 
method of communicating with the Conference, 
instead of again asking its permission to address it 
in person, in order that I may not encroach further 
upon its valuable time. I would, however, again 
call attention to the fact that I speak as the repre- 
sentative of the National Anti-Opium Association 
of China which is a federal body speaking for the 
millions of my countrymen who are determined 


158 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


that the use of prepared opium by the Chinese 
people, wherever they may be, shall, if possible, 
be brought to an end. 


I have made a careful examination of the Agree- 
ment reached by the First Opium Conference and 
regret to say that I find it of such a character that, 
in my opinion and in the opinion of those for whom 
I speak, if ratified, and put into effect in its present 
form, it will marka decided step backward rather 
than forward in the movement for the release of 
the world from the evils with which the Second 
as well as the First Conference is concerned. 


1. Chapter II of the Hague Convention of 1912 
laid a clear obligation upon the signatory powers 
to take measures for the gradual and effective sup- 
pression of the manufacture of, internal trade in, 
and the use of, prepared opium. Avoiding all legal 
and technical phraseology, the First Opium Con- 
ference was called with the purpose of carrying 
those measures for the gradual and effective sup- 
pression of prepared opium one stage further 
towards complete suppression. Judged in this light, 
the First Conference has signally failed to achieve 
the purpose for which it was convened. The Agree- 
ment reached, after such an expenditure of time 
and thought, is more an acknowledgment of failure 
to deal with the opium situation in the Far East 
than anything else. 


2. The Agreement in question several times cites 
the contraband opium trade as the principal cause 


ANNEXES 159 


preventing the effective suppression of the use of 
prepared opium. Opinions differ on this point. 
But, granting it to be true, what provision is there 
in the Agreement to deal with the contraband trade 
in an effective way, except the provision for the 
exchange of information? If this contraband trade 
is affecting the effectiveness of anti-opium measures 
in the Far East so seriously, then the First Confer- 
ence should not have risen until it had dealt with 
the problem thoroughly so that any future anti- 
opium measures might not be subject to the same 
menace. I failed to see during the deliberations of 
the Conferecne and I do not see in this present 
Agreement any real desire to deal with this problem. 
The principal impression received by observers is 
that this contraband trade is brought forward in 
the Conference whenever any power wants a con- 
venient excuse for inaction or delay. 


3. Iam not a judge of the English language, but 
in studying the Agreement, I cannot find any 
definite obligation laid upon the Powers to work 
towards the goal of total suppression. The docu- 
ment contains such phrases as ‘‘as soon as circum- 
stances permit,”’ ‘‘as much as possible,’’ “examine 

. the possibility of taking legislative mea- 
sures,’ which to me sound like plain evasions. In 
the matter of goverment monopolies, of retail 
shops, of opium dens, and of registration of smok- 
ers, no principle of gradual elimination on some 
definite scale is adopted. On the other hand, one 


160 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 


gathers the impression that the powers are anxious 
to see these practices maintained for an indefinite 
time. 

4. The Agreement in question is also silent on 
that part of Resolution 5 adopted by the Fourth 
Assembly of the League of Nations on September 
27, 1923, bearing on the problem of opium smoking. 
I refer to the clause which invites the Governments 
to take measures for ‘‘a reduction of the amount 
of raw opium to be imported for the purpose of 
smoking in those territories where it is temporarily 
continued.”’ This provision, in our opinion, is es- 
sential in leading to the eventual suppression of 
opium smoking. Yet, the present Agreement 
ignores it entirely. 

5. The Agreement is a clear indication of the 
policy of European Governments to dally with an 
evil as long as it does not threaten their own na- 
tionals. ‘‘Why should we worry,’’ they appear to 
say, ‘‘when, by continuing our present practices, 
we are not only guaranteeing a certain profit for 
our own treasuries, but, at the same time, are 
strengthening our hold over alien peoples by 
fastening upon them a habit which will steadily 
sap their vitality and undermine their manhood.” 
One of the delegations, during the course of the 
First Conference, actually proposed that opium 
dens should be closed to Europeans while, pre- 
sumably, it would have no compunction in seeing 
them open to Asiatics. Should not such a standard 
of international morality be repudiated? 


ANNEXES 161 


Telegraphic instructions received by me yester- 
day from the National Anti-Opium Association 
fully endorse the position I have set forth in the 
preceding paragraphs. In refusing to accept the 
Agreement as satisfactory, the Second Opium Con- 
ference will be acting in accordance with the ex- 
pressed wish of the Chinese people. We, seeing 
the inability of the Central Government, under the 
present political conditions, to enforce its anti- 
opium laws in the provinces, have risen to lend 
our support to this cause. The people have sent 
me here that I may, on my return, engage in an 
extensive tour in China to bring directly to our 
people encouraging news from these two Confer- 
ences. The National Anti-Opium Association of 
China is, therefore, not content with denouncing 
this worthless Agreement; it also wishes to have 
this question brought before the Second Conference 
for reconsideration, with a view to securing the 
adoption of more effective measures for the suppres- 
sion of the manufacture of, internal trade in, and 
the use of, prepared opium. May I, then, formally 
request you, on behalf of the National Anti-Opium 
Association, to seek the earliest opportunity to 
have this question brought before the Second Con- 
ference for reconsideration? 

I remain, Your Excellency, with high esteem, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) T.Z. Koo, 
Representative, National Anti-Opium 
Association. 


162 THE SECOND CONFERENCE 
Annex II 


THE CHINESE DELEGATION TO THE 
INTERNATIONAL OPIUM CON- 
FERENCES AT GENEVA ~ 


Plenipotentiary Delegates: 


Mr. Sao-KE ALFERD SzZE, Ambassador, Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at 
Washington. Formerly Imperial Commis- 
sioner to the Moukden Plague Conference; 
Minister of Communications, of Finance and 
of Foreign Affairs; Minister Plenipotentiary. 
to the Court of St. James; Chief Delegate at 
the Washington Conference of 1921-1922. 


Mr. WANG Kovuanc-Ky, Envoy Extraordinary 
and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Hague. 
Formerly Chief Secretary of the Cabinet and 
Minister Plenipotentiary to Belgium and Italy. 


Mr. CHAO-HSIN CHU, Minister Plenipotentiary, 
Charge d’Affaires in London. Former Senator, 
Professor of Economics at the University of 
Peking. 


Counsellor and Expert: 


PROFFESSOR W. W. WILLOUGHBY, Professor of 


Political Science at the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
( 


ANNEXES 163 


sity. Formerly Legal Adviser to the Chinese 
Government; Political Expert of the Chinese 
Delegation to the Washington Conference. 
Experts: 
Dr. VENFOUR TCHOU, Secretary of the Chinese 
Legation in Washington. 


‘Mr. Tcuovu CHE-TSIEN, Secretary of the Chinese 
Legation in Paris. 


Mr. WILLIAM HsIeEu, Secretary of the Chinese 
Legation at the Hague. 


Mr. TELLy Koo, Secretary of the Ministery of 
Foreign Affairs. 
Experts and Secretaries: 


Mr. WANG TsuUAN-TSU, Attaché to the Chinese 
Legation in Lisbon. 


Dr. CLARENCE KUANGSON YOUNG, Attaché to 
the Chinese Legation in Washington. 





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